Hard to Forget Rides

 I had some geocaches I wanted to drop off, so what better mode of transportation than the Fatty. It was the first time on the Fat-bike since the snow has gone.  I had cleaned and lubed it before I left this morning and you would never had guessed it when I returned.  The bike and I were coated with a gooey slippery nasty crud.  I was out for 4 hours 6 minutes today. I dodged rain showers, rode some nice hard packed trail, some not so hard packed trail, ate a quick lunch I had packed and had a blast!  Hard to forget rides like this.

 All is good here...smooth sailing.  Just enough ruts and mud to keep it interesting.

 This was the reason for riding the Fat-bike, because there is no driving this road. 

 Skirting the edges of the soft stuff. 

Still able to ride the edge here. 

 OK...now we are getting serious. Get up some speed, not too much...just right.  Now get the right gear.  Don't quit and squish right through.

 Now this one is a little deep.  I barely made this one.  Toes were lapping water and the bottom of these do not have a hard bottom. But once committed, there was no turning back.  I was surprised I made all of these without stalling out. But I was barely moving towards the end of this one.

 The creeks and rivers are slowly coming down from the spring run off.

I think this bridge will require some work in the near future.  If you sneak a peak and peer in the hole, you can see clear to the creek. Not good.   

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!

PS...As always, thanks for reading and commenting.

About Time

 We are having another go at spring here in the north of Wisconsin.  Today had temperatures in the 70's F and very little wind, which made for some nice riding today.  It is a welcome change from the cold and very windy weather we have become accustomed to this spring.  The above picture is of the Eau Claire River. 

 Just last week in nearby Hayward, they groomed a portion of the Birkie trail for skiing, although the Hayward area received about 16" of snow to our 2". The trail above is a winter use only for snowmobile and ATV's.  There may, or may not, have been a Fat-tire on this trail this winter also.

 The Wascott Fire Hall.

 This is the street in Gordon, WI where I learned how to ride a bicycle...a blue one.

 And this is the field where I learned how to drive a car.  We were helping family friends hay this field and when we were done, my parents taught me how to drive their car.  It was a 1966 Ford with a 3 on the tree...a blue one. I think of that day every time I go by here.

 That log floating out there is going to have to change direction if it's going to fit through the culvert it is heading for. 

The small lakes around here are now free of ice.  The larger deeper lakes are still iced in.  We had our fishing opener this past weekend and the ice still on the lakes have been the talk of the town.  It is the first time I that I can remember having ice for the opener, at least to where a person couldn't get out with a boat.  Some people ice fished for the opener and I heard reports of 16" of ice on a couple lakes.  I am not complaining about the weather we have been having this spring, but the weather today...eh...about time!

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!

Charity Riding

 Last weekend had me riding the Mn Ironman bicycle ride.  I was waiting to post this up to see if they would release the amount of riders they had ride.  I had heard several reports of over 5,000 riders, but did not find anywhere to verify that.  Judging by the amount of autos, the premium of parking and the amount of people at the start/finish,  I believe it.  We arrived early morning the day of the event, although I wasn't in a hurry to register in because I knew from past experience that registration goes fast.  After checking in about 6:50, I walked the 1/4 mile back to car, readied the bicycle, suited up and headed out near the 7:15 mark.
Edit...it has been verified at 4,697 riders. I found the e-mail Doug mentioned.  They are aware of the hits and misses.  

 I rode the 50 mile route rather than my usual century.  We had other things to do, so I felt lucky just to get in the 50.  I think they listed it as 53 on the profile map and that is very near what I had on the Garmin   We had a very strong wind helping us on the beginning of loop.  Speeds were very high on the first section.  Surprisingly, the speeds stayed not bad on the return also.

 Because I was out early the first rest stop was easy to get in and out of.  The second stop was located where two loops came together.  That one was much more crowded.  I made a trip to the biffy, but skipped the long snack line.

 There are always some pacelines on rides like this.  If I choose to join one, I try to pick and choose wisely.  A person can tell by riding at the back of the pack for short ways what you're getting into.  I hooked up with a group of about 20 for a couple miles, (not these guys pictured above) that I just wasn't comfortable with.  The roads had some potholes, and pot holes is an understatement, but that group had some riders making quick movements even when the roads were good.  I decided to let them go.  Glad I did.  As we were on a slight downhill with some good speed, I could see them a couple hundred yards ahead of me.  That is when disaster hit for them.  There were bicycles and bodies flying.  A sag vehicle happened to be right behind them, so they had help right away.  It looked like they were all sitting up as I rode on.

From what I saw, the routes were excellent.  The bathrooms at the start/finish line had very long lines.  One person made the comment, 5 bathrooms for 5,000 people...not good.  There were many more bathrooms at the rest stops and from what I saw didn't seem to be a problem there. The lunch line was also extremely long.  I didn't take many pictures.  I do not know why.  I guess some days are not picture days for me.  It was a great time and I will do it again!

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!