If you have read my other more personal pages, you will probably enjoy this one a lot more! I am greatful for the input of George Evans, who contributed greatlly to this effort!

I am a confirmed and dedicated roadie. Getting out there and racking up miles on my wonderful vintage Paramount brings me great joy, and puts my mind in a whole different place! But, now George and Patty Evans and the folks from the north country have introduced me to a whole new world of cycling, namely mountain biking, and I am having a ball!

The crew from Cycle Sports, of whom I ostentatiously include myself, meet at Potters Pasture on Sunday afternoons during the fall and winter. (If you want to know if we are riding or not, just call Cycle Sports at 308-534-1033 and ask or listen to the message for times and meeting places!) Potters Pasture is a fabulous 1200 acre playground that is located a few miles south of Jeffrey Lake, or 14.5 miles north of Moorefild, NE. God is the real owner of this magnificent playground, however, we decided it would be okay to name it after it's current caretaker, Steve Potter. Steve is an avid outdoorsman who also rides road and mountain bikes. The pasture that bears his name is used exclusively for cattle grazing, mountain biking, hiking and camping.

We currently have about 15 miles of established trails. Of course, if you ride the trails in reverse order, then it is really more like 30 miles of totally different trails! The trails range from jeep trails and pasture roads to gnarly single track, or highly technical deep cow cut trails, or long grinding uphills and about everything in between. About the only thing Potters doesn't have is really, REALLY long uphill and downhills and rocky single track. At any rate, it is some of the best mountain biking you are going to find in western Nebraska. To quote George, "If your can't have some fun at Potters Pasture, you'd better give up on life, because you are beyond having any fun at all!"

I will now try to explain some of the trails at Potters, and how they got their names. Believe me, riding the trails is a lot more fun than trying to write about them! When you ride to the west of the meadow where we camp, you have the choice of going north or south. To the south is "Susans' Single Track." This is a really nice single track with a few very technical cuts and a "Nice uphill climb." (George's words, not mine!) This trail is named after Susan Johnson, because she would always toast us when we would ride it backwards to camp.

Speaking of Susan, here she is!

On my first ride at Potters, I came out of a technical decent with a scratched and bleeding forearm. I was advised that it was a tradition that someone bleeds or pukes before an outing is called a ride. Well, on this particular day, Susan was the winner! Although it doesn't show up in the pictures, she managed to find a loose piece of barbed wire hidden in the tall grass. The pedals of the bike managed to raise the wire to the point that it got wrapped around her calves, scratching both legs. Thankfully, it looked worse than it was. Later, on a long uphill climb, she had to get off and walk. She told us that she could have made it....except the loss of blood had weakened her!

From the top of Susans Single Track you can go three ways. If you take a hard left, you can take the "High Line" back across the ridge to the "Long Downhill" and back to the camp. Or, you can take an easy left and go down "Drunken Karen." This trail was named for Karen House and a particularly spectacular and out of control downhill run, that drops you into another canyon. Or, you can follow the fence line and drop down into "Church Grove" and follow the trail through the cattle guard and across to "Trail Ridge Road" and "6-12." "6-12" (named after the pitch of a roof) is a very cool fast and long downhill that ends at the "Steps" (ride it, and you will know where the name comes from!) and you go around the "Hanging Tree," then start the climb up "Sumac Shoot." From there, you can either take "Big and Little Moots" or "Patty's way." In either case you will end up at the top of "Escalator" and "Team Trail." If you take "Escalator", which is a long technical downhill, you will end up at the "Tanks" named for the stock tanks that are there, and makes a handy place for the dogs that come along sometimes to take a swim, get a drink and cool down. Or, if you take "Team Trail" you will be in for a nice, fast run across the top which will then drop you into a fast downhill through the trees and into "Chris Cut," which is named for Chris Roth, and is a steep, deeply cut cow trail with a really neat sharp turn about half way down. At the bottom of "Chris Cut" you again have several choices of trails to take. To the south is "Potters Perfection" a very long, steep and technical uphill which leads you to "Double Downhill." Or, you can take "Triple Bypass" which is a "nice hard (some have called it gut wrenching) climb." (Once again, George's words, not mine!) Or cut your ride a little short and take the "Second" or "Third Loop."

If you went down "Escalator" to the "Tanks" (which is really a lot of fun!) you will then head out across "The Desert," or you can take a couple very short detours and play around at the "Hole in the Wall Gang" area. There, you can ride "The Teeter Totter" or if you are really gutsy take a shot at the "Pawnee's Death Drop" or try a couple of the nice little jumps in this area. At any rate, you will end up in the next canyon, at "Potter's Perfection." As I mentioned before, you can take the "Second Loop" and drop down "Rolex" or take the "Third Loop" and drop down "George Gorge." "George Gorge" is not too popular since Joe Lupomech broke his collar bone on this descent! (No one told me about that untill AFTER I rode it!) A nice side trip from this canyon is the "Sumac Ridge Uphill" which starts at the bottom of "Carcass Canyon" and drops into "Harris Hazzard."

Now, you can head north and take the "First Way" which is a very long, steep climb up to the "Saddle." From there, you can jog a little south and drop down the "Long Downhill" to camp, or take the "First Loop" (also called the "First Single Track") north to the "First Windmill" and follow a really cool single track to the "Second Windmill" and drop down into camp.

There are many other little trails to add to your cycling adventures, such as "Horseshoe Bend," "Church Grove Cutoff," "Mormon Trail" and "Murphy's Law." And, currently under construction is a whole new trail, with extreme uphill and downhill runs, tentativley named "All Bucked Up!"

About the only thing that could make Potter's even more special is the folks who ride there. There are riders of every capability....heck, they even let me ride with them! And we all share a deep respect for the land that we are allowed to play on. When we leave, it looks like it did before we got there. And, we all share a love of biking! It is so much fun to ride with these folks! As some of you may know, I am a new bike rider, and can't hold a candle to some of the others in the Team. But these wonderful folks always take care of me (and each other!) to insure that we all have a great time. Typically, we all start off on a trail, and at the top, the good riders stop and let us (okay, me!) catch up. Then, once I, oops, we have caught our breath, off we go again! It is really a lot of fun. Although I have improved some, I still have to walk up many of the hills, and there is never any criticism. These folks encourage you to do better, and share in your triumphs when you make it further up a hill than you have in the past. Riding with these people really makes the sport of cycling special! I encourage anyone who reads this to come out and play with us! And, who knows, maybe someday it will be me waiting for you at the top of the hill!!