It is the last weekend of culling the Whitetail herd by rifle, which means daylight riding will return. For me, it has been waiting for dark to venture out on the bicycle for the last three weeks.


TOB....Good Luck in your Birkie training...and this is fitting because it is an old one, lol...If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.

We hope everyone has been avoiding the plague. We have been lucky at our household so far.

 

Getting Out

The weather experts are predicting that our area is going to be hammered with snow the next couple days. They are saying somewhere between 8 and 12 inches. It started snowing here about 2:00 this afternoon. When I headed out for a ride about 5:30, I got some words of encouragement from my son. He says, "What are you doing. Going for a bike ride?" To which I replied "Yeah. Why not." And here is where the words of encouragement come in..."In this??? Jesus." It's refreshing to think he was thinking that highly of me. He wasn't surprised, I am sure.

The ride was a gooood work out. I have been around this area for a long time and the snow tonight was heavy enough to where I didn't know where I was at a lot of the time. It is like this...you do not know where you are until you pass something familiar such as a road or an unusual landmark. Houses and cabin's are pretty much non-existent on this route. The best part was the last 6 miles...right into the wind...a snowy, 20 to 30mph wind...and on the fixed gear. Oh Yeah!!!

Brisk

This is a known, not debatable, fact...6 degrees and snow on the roads mixed with 480 carbide studs makes some sweeeeet music. Some may argue, but get over it because as I said, it is Fact.

So far this year, we have had a dusting or two, but nothing to stick to the roads good. Tonight the roads were snow covered and studded tires were not on the bike. With that being said, when I got home from work, on they went. After they were mounted, I left the house at 7:30 pm and went for an hour long ride. It was a nice night to be out. The temp was at 15 above, snow lightly falling and a 10mph SW wind and I was dressed perfectly. It was also nice to hear the crackle of 480 carbide studs making their mark...most of the time in virgin snow. And then there was the snow flakes sparkling in the headlight. It makes me want to ride more just jotting this down, but I must work tomorrow, so I better not stay out late playing in the snow.

Out of the bosom of the Air, Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken, Over the woodlands brown and bare, Over the harvest-fields forsaken, Silent, and soft, and slow Descends the snow.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Big Dance

I have been contemplating whether to apply to the Chequamegon Fat Tire next fall. The Chequamegon is what I would call the Big Dance for me. Some people are better at dancing than others, even so far as having celebrity status. It is only by lottery drawing that I would be admitted...which kind of makes me think if I am admitted, I should be admitted to be committed.

Dancing is wonderful training for girls, it's the first way they learn to guess what a man is going to do before he does it...If he has permission to do it.

Moon Ride

First off, we need send kudos out to CAD. He ran the Gobble Gallop 5k running race in Duluth MN this last Thanksgiving morning, in which part of the proceeds go to the Northern Lakes Food Bank. Not surprising to me, he finished near the top of the list of 972 entrants. Excellent job CAD.

I spent just over an hour on the fixed gear Monday night. The moon was shining so bright...How bright was it?...It was so bright that I did not use a headlight for 59 minutes of that hour. I was only .5 miles from home when the first and only auto I saw came up from behind, so I flipped the headlight on until they got by. I did have my taillight on, you know, for safety. For the most part, I could see quite well.It was 29 degrees when I arrived back home at 7:45 and I nailed the clothing part. I like it when that happens.

Moon shining bright.

Slowly Getting The Country Back

After not being on the bike for a week, I notice it. I think I feel much better physically and mentally when I get in some outside physical activity. I will try get out this week. Now on to a boring rant. X-out now if you do not want to read some bitching, pissing and moaning...Woe is me. lol lol lol lol

After putting up with inconsiderate belligerent macho deer hunters with gang mentality for a week, we will slowly resume to our normal life's...but we will be weened slowly, as we now have the Muzzle Loader season to deal with. So far, the muzzle loaders haven't been an issue. We hope it stays that way. Last year being 2008, this was the stats for the rifle week...nine accidents, one fatal, all either self inflicted or shooter and victim in the same party, during the nine-day season. Shooting at moving deer during deer drives contributed to 56% (5) of all of the incidents during the season, including the fatality. There were a total of (25) homes & barns, (3) cars and (1) tractor struck by bullets or slugs during the 2008 deer gun season. There also were a total of 1400 violations issued. This represents the hunting getting safer??

Now...I am a deer hunter, but I do not know for how much longer. This year, I had one hunter calling me a dick for me telling him he was trespassing...fine for trespassing is $1383.00. If I wanted to be a dick, I would have just called him in and not had to deal with him, and next year I will do just that. We also had two other hunters put their deer stands just across our property line within sight of our stands...and one our stands that has been there 25 years. This year we did not hunt that stand because of this deer hunting terrorist. I do not choose to hunt that close someone I do not know. I did find a nice peaceful place to sit, and although it isn't the best deer spot, it was an enjoyable spot...and I saw no hunters. So until the next deer harvest.........