Nebraska Life mag visits for the day !!

We recently had the pleasure of spending the day with Chris Amundson editor and publisher of the magazine Nebraska Life. Chris brought along Dan Spray who is an avid MTB racer/rider to check out Potter's Pasture and do a ton of photo's for a future article in the mag. It was kinda nice to hook up with these guy's who happen to be from my hometown of Norfolk Ne. !! I will hopefully be riding with Dan on the trails they have built when I go back to visit family!! Chris has extended an offer for new subscriptions that are done either on line or via phone !! Just mention “Potter’s Pasture—Free Calendar with subscription” in the order form comment box at www.NebraskaLife.com. Or, you can call them and order directly 800-777-6159 .

The climb out of "New Camp" CQ & Dan Spray
Jeff Caldwell droppin' in on Nugget
Dan Spray enjoying what Potter's has to offer
CQ on Ceder Ridge above "Old Camp"
The man himself Steve Potter !!!!!

Photo DUMP !!!!

I really didn't have a direction to go with the blog at the moment and just thought a few pictures to look at would be cool. Enjoy the pixels and maybe there will be a REAL post in the near future about some new techy trail layouts that haven't surfaced yet !! Get your dirt on before too much of the white stuff piles up my friends !!!

                                                          CQ

                                   

Kyle Vincent rollin' up Trail Ridge

Matt Bergan  

He's awful cute !! Just don't pet him. 

CQ droppin in !!

Lane Bergan heading into the canyon.

CQ chasing Lane Bergan down .

Campout info for the fall

Here is the official info on the organized gatherings at Potter's. Of course you are always welcome to camp and ride at your convenience !! Just PACK OUT ALL YOUR TRASH,CLOSE THE GATES and of course have FUN!!

Sept 30th

Pot luck dinner at 4:30pm on Saturday. Some of the best mountain biking in western Nebraska. Nebraska Land Magazine will be there doing a story! Potters Pasture is located 10 mi S of I-80 Exit 199, 3 mi W on Moorefield Rd, Brady, Nebraska 69123

Oct. 15th Camp Fire Run

A sun set 5k Race and Fun Walk. It will be held Oct. 15th @ 6pm. Awards, S'mores, Chili feed and more. Proceeds will go to The Lincoln Connection and Potters Pasture trail maintenance.

1st camp out sept 30th - oct 2nd NLMag will be here Sat oct 1st. The 2nd camp out is oct 14-16th with the 5k on the 15th

Pasture Update

The pasture is in great shape and it seems that the hottest of our summer days may be behind us. I have to confess, that I haven't been out at the pasture much this year, but will be out there quite a bit this fall. The camp outs for this fall are scheduled for a couple of weekends; September 30th - October 2nd and October 14th - 16th. Once the weather cools a bit, I'll most likely be camping every weekend, but that's just me . . .

In other news: Congratulations to our own Dos Coyotes for lining up at the Gravel Worlds in Lincoln this weekend. Full results can be found over at the home of the PCL.

And now for a few pics . . . the riding was so good and my camera so crappy that the pics leave something to be desired.

CQ coming down Potter's Perfection.

CQ still coming down Potter's Perfection.

Something was happening here, don't remember what.

Get out there, folks and have some good pasteurizing.

Pack out what YOU bring in !!!!

This was discovered in old camp after the Memorial weekend. There were some folks camping there that weekend while most of the locals were at new camp. It was mentioned that they hailed from points east near Lincoln or Lincoln proper. PACK OUT ALL OF YOUR TRASH !!! This is not a state park with people that clean up after people that can't seem to put there refuse in a proper place. There are quite a few people who cherish this place and put a huge amount of time into it. It is private land that can be closed because of crap like this. We have had people from a ton of states visit Potter's and loved it like it was their local haunt. It's sad to have to say that this may have been done by someone from our own state. I hope a couple of the riders got pics of the suv with plate so we can let these loser's know what we think of this. You had a great weekend and didn't have to finish the drive to the Black Hill's as stated by the female in the group. Maybe you should keep going next time. PACK IT OUT !!!!!!

Rant Over
CQ

Memorial Weekend

The holiday weekend held true to form as the weather goes. Misty with passing sprinkle and a t-boomer thrown in for good measure. The light show on Saturday night was awesome!!! I was pretty surprised at the folks that showed up even with the weather issues. I believe we ended up with fifteen riders and around 20 or total. We had some very nice entertainment courtesy of Paul Siebert who played a huge array of music that was enjoyed by all !! A huge Thank You to Paul for the free performance. The moisture just enough to make the dirt sticky and a little slimy in a few spots. Over all it was a great time with some new folks and the usual suspects also !! We also discovered a group from Lincoln in old camp. Here are some pics !!
CQ

Spring . . . Maybe?

The pasture is looking to have weathered winter fairly well. Sorry the pics are not that great, forgot the good camera and had to make due with the phone camera. The only other souls on the trail this weekend that I saw were a few turkeys. No cows, no deer to be seen, nothing. Just quiet and serene. The weather was cool and cloudy. Spring is on the way, but it's hiding its advance very well.

Green is everywhere just waiting to pop and engulf everything.

Still a lot of mud in the low lying spots. Old Camp is still very wet. I parked at Festival Camp and had mud-free parking and access without having to slog through the muck.

The "new valley" on the Desert has really crept up on the trail. A few more rains and we'll be rerouting along the shoulder of the canyon . . . probably should just go ahead and do it now.

Like many of the "roads", Drunken Karen is washed out in fantastic fashion.

Typical of the bottom of the bulldozer roads. Most of them have a "delta" at the bottom.

I really have no idea what happened here . . .

April Showers

Went to Potter's today to see how the trails held up to the snow and rain we had. I knew it would be a crap shoot at best to even find a decent route. I hit the new Reaper's Ridge climb and some fun in tree's!! It turned out to be a tad bit muddy with snow in areas still. I did a loop around the perimeter that had around 10 miles of some of my favorites. I ended up cranking out two loops for a total of 17 miles. I ended up riding in complete solitude!! It is a totally different experience all alone, but I like it sometimes!! The weather closed in and it started to rain as I was leaving.

CQ





Coming down crack-a-lak was interesting in the snow.


The roots on Reaper's Ridge were fun to say the least!!!!


A nice pic at the top of Pump Hill.

Spring Gathering

It is that time of year again!! Time to get outside, enjoy the trails and have a little campfire time in the evening with some friends. The date for the get together is May 5th - 8th. It was hard to get a date that functioned well for anyone this year. Hope this works for more than a few of the MTB crowd out there. If you have a Mother that rides this could work out well for you!! You could go to your local shop and pick up some Mothers Day goodies and give them to her at the trails!! Potters is in very good shape this spring so come join in the fun!! The location will be at "Festival Camp" . It is located at the southern entrance to the trails and can be found on the trail map you can download and print.
CQ

Reaper's Ridge Phase 1 Completed

The Reaper's Ridge phase 1 redesign is complete to the top now. This has been in the design/exploratory phase for about five years now.I knew what I wanted out of this area and now it is half done. I finished the route layout and then with the help of T Laub we hit it and hit it hard!! I had paused to take a breather and noticed where we had made it too, when I let out a holler. We were at the top !! So we finished up what needed to be finished and then we rolled that sucker!! I must say it roll's very well folks !! The sign for the upper entrance will have to be placed and a link will be made to reconnect to the original lower section of Reaper's. There will be some work done on the original entrance as the time allows. It is time to ride people!! Get out and enjoy the trails!!
CQ

Looking downhill near the middle of the upper section

CQ rollin' the upper section downhill

Looking uphill near the middle of the upper section

Breaking in a new ride

I received a call from T Laub that his friend TJ had pulled the trigger on a new ride!! They were heading to Potter's to get a quick break-in ride for TJ's new Rock Hopper. Heck he didn't even let the smell of the shop clear before they picked me up. We did a nice loop to get him familiarized with a few key routes and landmarks. It was a very nice 84 F while we were riding. I was not prepared for what the trails had in store for my legs at all. I was on the SS and it didn't dawn on me till the first climb that I was running a 32x17 which was a bit steep for me at Potter's!! On the way back to "Old Camp" heard T Laub talkin' up the Big Hill descent into camp. Well I cut off onto the single track down and they bombed the two track . I watched as TJ made it and stopped to watch T Laub launch off the nice jump at the bottom. He landed the first one and then dropped into the road cut near the windmill . Not such a good landing here !! Lots of dust and debris flying everywhere!!! He was in one piece and had some very nice raspberries to show off. We discovered that blood had been let so all in all it was a great day at the pasture !!
CQ

TJ all smiles after a great ride !!
T Laub all smiles cause nothing was broke !!!

Trail Work

I headed out to Potter's to get in some trail work on the extension to Reaper's Ridge with T Laub aka "Jack Cleveland" last Saturday. We made a huge dent in the second phase. I have crawled and bushwacked around this canyon for a long time and the trail that I knew could be laid out will soon be a reality. There will be two lines at the original entrance, one is the original with the drop and roots, and the other will be a line that will allow more people to access this awesome trail. Here are a couple pics of the progress.
CQ

Time to Ride

I know there haven't been a ton of updates here lately !! Heck not one all winter!! I have a sneeky suspicion that is gonna be changing. I have been hitting some sweet rides elsewhere in the canyons on some very sweet gravel since Potters tends to stay a little mushy longer. Here is a pic from one of the rides , it ain't Potters but it is still what it's all about !!