Rlove2bike

Part 4

2012-02-09T21:47:00.000-06:00

By Eric Peterson

I reluctantly rode thru the soft junk snow for the next hour or so until something wonderful happened. Up from behind came some new faces and with it an escape from the prison of mental misery for which I currently resided. Some people came and went but I ended up riding with Jason Novak from Rochester for most of this leg. It was a treat to talk to him while we rode and it totally revitalized me, but he on the other hand was getting worse and worse in comparison. This leg of the race starts to get hilly and it felt great to get off and push the bike. As dusk started to approach, Jason sensed that he was holding me back and he told me to go on ahead. This was his third year racing the Arrowhead and he said that it’s really great for morale if I made it to the next checkpoint before dark. I was reluctant to leave him but since I knew we were getting quite close I decided that it was time to let the legs do what they had been begging me to do for quite some time.

I hopped on the bike and opened up the throttle a little bit. The speed felt really nice and my legs felt strong. I pushed a little harder for several miles and then finally there it was. Elephant Lake. Joy poured over me like a hard rain and I felt the fire within grow. This new found drive was incredibly invigorating and when my tire touched the lake it was go time. I shifted up a couple gears, cranked the cadence to my max, and “let ‘er buck.” I felt like a brand new race car. My body floated motionless across the landscape while my legs mashed down on the pedals like the pistons in a fine tuned engine. The cold bite of the now much stronger wind felt amazing on my bare face and before I knew it I was at the next checkpoint just before dark.

I pulled up on the shore and there was my dad. It was great to see him and he pointed me to the check in cabin. I ditched the bike and walked in. It was incredible in there with racers and volunteers everywhere. I found a chair and started to strip down to my base layer. The volunteers in there were like angels. They filled my camelback, made me grilled cheese, got me soup, poured me a cup of coffee…. It was incredible. Not too long after I got settled in Jason showed up. He told me he wasn’t doing too great and if he didn’t start feeling better he was going to drop the race which he ended up eventually doing.

After an hour and a half of eating and enjoying the warm company of fellow racers I decided it was time to go. Apparently my timing was perfect because I hit the trail at the same time as Ken and Mike. I quickly rode up behind them to ask if I could tag along and they said that would be fine. At this point twelve hours had passed since the start, it was night time, and we were now headed into the most challenging leg of the race…..

Part 3

2012-02-06T23:27:00.000-06:00

Part 3

By Eric Peterson

The first ten miles of the race are on an old railroad grade, but now we make a sharp turn to the east and it’s time for things to get interesting. The Arrowhead trail meanders its way thru some really fascinating terrain which frequently dips thru otherwise unused swamps and marshlands. These lowlands are rather difficult to travel thru during the summer and due to the soft trail conditions they are not all that easy for the race. I started out with pretty high pressure in the tires and I’m feeling like I would be more comfortable at a lower pressure so I stop to make some adjustments. I’ve had the idea that I should drop pressure for some time now, but I just hadn’t been able to tare myself away from the tire in front of me and the group that I was with. I pull to the side of the trail and the group pulls away, so I change to my light weight gloves, get some food, drink some water, and adjust the tires. I pause for a second before taking off again to listen for something and I hear it. Silence. It’s the kind of silence that you can only get in the woods during the winter. I do most of my riding near Duluth and it is never quite as peaceful as this.

Now that the group I was riding with is gone I’m alone which feels great, although this early in the race people aren’t too spread out yet so soon I hear someone behind me. Several of us would end up kind of riding together for the next ten miles or so. One would pull away but then would stop to drink water and we would catch up. Then the trail would get smooth and I’d pull away only to have them catch back up when it was rough. Finally we split up totally and I finished the first leg uneventfully by myself. My dad was waiting at the checkpoint and we went into the store for some soup and to take a break. The Gateway General Store was a mess of racers, workers, and volunteers. I was a little lethargic at that point so stepping into that place was like walking into a beehive. I kicked off my boots and sat down to eat my soup at a table which was terribly out of place. It was obviously set up for the race and I greatly appreciated it even though I was really uncomfortable eating there. Something about eating food in a grocery type store just seemed odd. I looked around and saw grocery store type things like shore lunch and flower, a cooler with soda, one with ice cream sandwiches, and gift shop trinkets, but there I was in my bike gear eating soup. It was weird but I was glad to have had the chance to sit down for a bit, eat some soup, and chat with my father.

I hopped back on the bike feeling completely refreshed and was riding down the short spur trail which happened to be completely chewed up from spectators walking on it. I was really looking forward to getting back on some hard packed bike tracks, but when I got there they were gone. Apparently some snowmobiles had gone by when I was at the checkpoint and now the trail was mush. Previously, when you would go off the packed bike tracks it was crusty but now it was like riding thru lumpy mashed potatoes. I noticed my speed was drastically slower than earlier in the day and I could feel the darkness of frustration setting in. It was like a cancer from behind the brain slowly devouring my motivation, but somehow I rode on. Soon I saw a track and I tried to ride it, but it didn’t offer much relief from the dreaded mash potatoes. Creeping up on me from behind was an emotionally dark place and I just couldn't ride fast enough to outrun it. The world around me was closing and I had myself convinced that I could never finish this thing, but then out of nowhere another track would mysteriously appear and then another as if to tell me to keep going…….

Part 2

2012-02-05T12:24:00.001-06:00

Arrowhead 135 Ultra

By Eric Peterson

Of all the professional shots taken at the start this is definitely my favorite, and it was taken by my father with his smart phone.

The temperature is just barely above zero and I’m pretty cold which is good, since if you are not cold at the start then you are overdressed. The strategy is to stay just a little bit cold all the time in order to keep at bay the number one enemy. Sweat. Hydration and nutrition are key in an event like this and excessive sweating means extra hydration will be needed. Not to mention clothing becomes wet and the insulating properties of any garment are greatly hindered when wet.

When the gun went off the entire group lurched forward and before I knew it we were all in single file. The movement felt rehearsed and strangely comforting which was a very pleasant surprise. What I found next brought me back to reality in a hurry. The unpredictability of the trail proved to be something that I wasn’t prepared for. I would be riding along having a good ol time and then without warning, bam, the bike would sort of kick out sideways. This wonderful phenomenon was caused by everyone riding on the “path of least resistance,” which in this case is the track made by the twenty or so bikes in front. This “sweet spot” ends up being roughly six inches wide with little raised edges which holds your tires in the track. This is all fine and dandy until your body wanders outside this track, but because of that little edge, your tires don’t want to follow. The result is a momentary front tire skid followed by the tire breaking thru the edge of the sweet spot and the bike shooting several feet sideways across the trail. Needless to say, this is very exciting in the dark. The whole thing takes place in a nanosecond and the recovery, if executed skillfully, can put you back into the sweet spot in less than a second. The first time it happened I almost peed my pants, although I’m not entirely sure that I didn’t. After it happened a few more times (the sliding, not the peeing) I noticed that it was happening to most everyone else and I started to feel a little better. The thought of riding like this for 135 miles quickly became rather daunting and I started to rather seriously wonder if I have what it takes to finish this thing.

The Arrowhead is all about quandaries just like this. Do I continue doing what I’m doing and suffer thru crappy conditions? Do I give up? Or do I find some way to make this easier on myself. It sounds simple and rather minor in context but this is one of those life defining situations. Problem solving is something that I am very good at and my mind starts to race with possible solutions and related experiences. Information starts flooding in from so deep in the catacombs of my intellect that I momentarily forget where I am and I almost ride right off the side of the trail. I regain my composure and try to hold back the flood gates of information so I can devote at least some concentration to actually riding the bike. After a few miles I develop a process for tackling the task at hand and I find myself quite at ease on the bike again. The sun is starting to rise and I find myself looking around to enjoy the scenery. The pack has started to spread out at this point and I’m cruising along with four or five other bikers. We come up on a ranch that has horses and when we ride past they run next to the fence parallel with us and at about the same speed. There is about five adult horses with two or three smaller yearlings all running together with their mains flowing together behind them as though they are one. It’s a beautiful thing to behold. I picture a family having a picnic at the beach on a sunny summer day and the parents running with their children down to the water for the first time. I allow the emotion of the experience to overtake me and I feel that I could stay in this moment forever, but I’m brought back to reality as quickly as I drifted off by my tire grabbing the edge of a rut. I almost crash again. “Ride your bike idiot,” I think to myself. This is going to be a long race…..

More to come later.

The Big Dance

2012-02-04T10:55:00.000-06:00

Arrowhead 135 Ultra

Part 1: By Eric Peterson

The dreaming started years ago…..

Many can attest to my thoughts of the AH over the past 8 years being quite different than they are now. I used to be in the “that’s crazy” crowd, which I must admit is astoundingly enormous, but over the past few years I have somehow migrated to the “challenge yourself” crowd. It has been a transformation which has pushed and prodded me along this rocky uphill path to greater self-awareness. I only mention this because knowing the “why” is what this event is all about, and the answers to that question are limitless.

I find myself driving up to International Falls on Saturday for the mandatory gear check with so much excitement that I can barely sit still. I get there and walk into the conference room and there he is, the legend, Dave Pramann sitting behind his laptop checking in the racers. I check in and he shakes my hand. Awesome. The room is so packed with people and gear that you can hardly see the carpet, and instantly my stomach feels like it has just imploded. I cruise back to the truck to get my gear for inspection and jump back in line. I get thru the gear check in what seems like hours but I know that it was only minutes. My gear is good to go and the paperwork is done. Walking back to the truck I feel a sense of relief so amazing that it’s like a warm blanket on a cold night……. And I can’t help but smile.

Dad and I drive back up the next day for the racers meeting and spaghetti feed. That evening I happen across Charlie Farrow in the pool area. We chat for a while, and I end up helping him haul some gear to his car. On the way we see Pramann who is headed to the hotel bar so we join him. The two of them regale me with tales of past events which is certainly an awe inspiring experience. I would happily listen all night long but I need to try to get some rest, for Monday is going to be a long day. I hit the pillow and try to sleep but it just isn't happening. How surprising. The alarm goes of at 5:30 and with maybe 3 hours of rest I’m ready to go by 6:30. I run into Charlie in the lobby and we end up riding over to the start together which is about 8 blocks away. He tells me to grab onto the lead group right away and I respond with a laugh. Jay Petervary and many other elites are in that group, so there is no chance for me to hang with them. Simply to finish is merely the goal. Next he tells me not to bivy. If I get tired, “just push the bike for an hour or two. It’ll come back to you,” (more on the irony of this statement later) which sounds like something that I would definitely try if need be. We get to the start and check in. It’s a sea of chaos with cars, bikes, skiers, runners, and sleds everywhere. Blinking lights, headlamps, and reflective vests in the dark make the whole scene feel surreal. "Can this really be happening? Am I still sleeping," I think to myself. I pull off my glove and put my hand to my exposed face. It's cold to the touch and I see my breath in the crisp morning air. Yeah, this is real. 6 minutes before the start Pramann comes by with the bullhorn telling everyone to line up on the trail head. I sneak into the middle of the pack, get situated, fiddle with my gear, and bang. It’s a mad dash for the finish which at this point feels like it’s on the other side of the world........

More to come later.

Arrowhead

2012-02-01T20:43:00.000-06:00

If we are lucky, coming soon we will have a guest blogger making his second post on this blog. He will be doing a writeup as a participant in the 2012 Arrowhead 135 Ultra. I am really looking forward to reading his firsthand account.

Planning of the 1st Long Tour

2012-01-21T13:36:00.000-06:00

In early summer I plan on making a bicycle tour around the state of Wisconsin. Why Wisconsin? Well seeing that I live in WI and I have never made a long tour, it may be advantageous to start with an area I am semi familiar with. I never realized just how many miles it is around the perimeter of this state. It has to be close to 1500 miles. I have roughly mapped a route on a state map, have bicycle route maps of every county I will go through and am now finalizing a route on mapmyride.com. I realize that with this route planned out...It WILL change when I am riding it, and that is a good thing.

I have most everything I will need, but I do need to replace a couple items that have worn out over the years. My booties/toe warmers ripped apart at the end of last year, so they will need replacing. Also the rain gear I have is not adequate, so I would like to replace them also. I have been thinking of going with a poncho from these guys http://www.catoregon.org/?page_id=26 If anyone has suggestions on these or anything else...feel free. I am all ears.

As some may know, I am working through a leg injury at the present time. I had thought it was doing well, but I had a little set back. I am back at it now, although it's indoors and every other day, things are going well so far. This is were my riding is taking place for a while...my room in the basement. It's nothing fancy and although I can see outdoors, it's not outdoors and it will have to do for now.

I give thanks for having this forum to put this plan out here, because according to Napoleon Hill...Reduce your plan to writing. The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.

Thanks for reading,

Helping out

2012-01-16T18:38:00.000-06:00

Our niece has entered some type of you tube contest. I really don't know much about it, except they go by how many hits it has. If you would like, give it a listen. It's really cool. This is made up of 900 photos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlVcJ2LHlCo&sns=fb

Thanks

Unseasonably Excellent

2012-01-05T23:10:00.001-06:00

With the temperature reaching above the +40F mark, I could not wait any longer. I rode the studded up fixed gear on some roads near our home. The fixie was probably not the best thing to ride on an injured leg, but it's the only one I have studs on, so that's what it had to be. I iced the swelling when I got home. :-)

A wild Turkey trail heading off one of the rut roads.

The above picture is of one of the many snowmobile/ATV trails in our area. Most years this would be packed hard with a good base. We are having a very mild winter and I cannot remember a warmer one...so far. We will get a good dose of winter before too long is my bet.

And this is my track today. If I have my way, one way or another, next year I will leave a bigger print...a fat track in fact.

The roads around here are now in excellent studded bicycle riding condition. A person wouldn't want to be with out studs here. When we got the last snow of about 4 inches, rain came first, so even though it looks like blacktop, a lot of it is covered with ice.

I was out for an hour and nine minutes today and saw zero vehicles. Just me, some deer, some birds and the bike. Living here has its disadvantages for certain, but IMO, it also has advantages such as this. Some people wouldn't like such a thing, but that is what makes us people. We can't all like the same things.

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T23:13:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!!

We spent the last week at our family cabin which sets at the end of this driveway on a lake in Northwestern Wisconsin. Even though it is only 25 miles from our home, it is still a nice getaway. It is internet challenged here at the cabin, although with the recent advances of cell phone towers, we now have limited cell service. It is still many miles to buy a gallon of milk though.

My Great Grandfather homesteaded this land many moons ago. This was one of my Grandpas machines from back in the day. Nice!!

This was another. They are our lawn ornaments as you make your way down the driveway towards the cabin.

This area that used to be field is now a mixture of trees. Some are nice and healthy, and others tip over easily from root rot, or at least that's the generic term we use. It has something to do with what sometimes happen when trees take over farm field.

This is a creek that enters the lake and makes a U turn right back out again. The above picture is just after it leaves the lake.

We were welcomed back home to a nice covering of fresh snow in the upper St.Croix River valley.

We decided to go for a drive this afternoon. Some virgin snow...lots of it.

These are some of my favorite biking roads. I have used a cross bike here a few times, but the mountain bike is my favorite ride for these roads. Miles and miles of wilderness riding here. I am still nursing that !*%#^$! leg that I injured a month ago. If not for that, I would have had a bicycle out today instead of the truck.

Here is a small branch of the St.Croix River.

St.Croix River

More St.Croix. Up until July 1st, one could take either fork of the river here. Not any more. We had a bad windstorm and you would play hell getting through that one now because of the downed trees.

This is a picture of the opposite side of the road. The storm was a biggie. It involved a very large area, although the wind damage was sporadic.

This is on a road that dead ends in along the St.Croix...and my father was the dozer operator that made this road years ago when he first started his career in the the forestry field. In fact, the last five pictures were from that road. We had many family picnics here and we carried on the tradition with our children.

I am hoping the next post will involve some outside activity. Going to give a go one of these days.

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T19:05:00.000-06:00

We would like to wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

One of the new members at Christmas this year was Gus.

And this is Nitro. Don't click for big on this pic. The photographer did a crappy job on this one.

Turkey this year was cooked in a grease less fryer.

Our son Brian has cooked a few birds in this unit. They seem to be the ultimate in cooking the turkey. There is no oil, so the fire risk is drastically reduced and most important of all is a very tasty bird.

I highly recommend these cookers...especially if you are blessed with a chef that comes with it, as we are. :-)

We also had a ham. It is our traditional Christmas dinner...Ham, Turkey, Sweet Potatoes, White Potatoes, Gravy, Stuffing, Cottage Cheese and a lot of desserts. Now I like to eat and get presents as much as the next guy, but most important, is the family time we get...That is priceless!!

Unless of course you were like me and homemade granola is one of your presents...just kidding. Family is still on top.

Ready to Ride...but

2011-12-15T11:00:00.000-06:00

I have the fixed gear ready for the winter riding season. I mounted up the studded tires, put on the lighting and put a rear rack on. Thing is...I think it may be a while before I get out riding. I was on a ride about 2 1/2 weeks ago riding along Lake Superior. I stopped to walk down to the lake. As I was climbing back up the clay bank from the lake, I thought it would be easier to run the bank and not slip much. It worked well for a bit until I thought I felt something hit the back of my leg. I stopped and turned around to see what it was. Instant calf pain is what it was. It was bad enough to where I had to crawl back up and to the bike. I tried to walk it off and that wasn't happening, so it was a one legged pedal back to the truck. I searched on line and have been trying to doctor it myself. Although it has gotten much better, the leg is still very sore. I understand it can take quite some time to heal. That is one stupid move I would like to have do overs on.

Studded tires mounted up and ready...teasing me. That's what they're doing.

This has been my view the last two mornings as I have been trying to ease back into riding. The dreaded trainer. Starting with 30 minutes. I think I might be pushing it a little because as I said earlier, it still is sore, but I hate not riding. We will see how it goes.

Get outdoors and have some fun!!

It's Still Good Riding

2011-10-18T13:57:00.000-05:00

This morning's weather was 38F and light rain, which made for a nice quiet ride on the back roads. I was thinking, which is always enhanced while bicycle riding, that it will soon be time to get the studded tires off the wall and mounted up.

AND...that patch of water near the island in the above picture will be dotted with several ice shacks.

If there is one thing this retirement thing has brought to the forefront for me, it is that time just flies. I have been retired five and a half months and it seriously does not seem like five days. There were a lot of things I had good intentions of doing this summer, didn't get them in and whether I like it or not, summer is history. That's alright though, because there are things I want to do this winter too. We will see how that goes.

One good thing this summer brought was some relief from a drought that has plagued us these last few years...but it is only a start. This little lake is one of many in our area. We call them pothole's around this neck of the woods. There was not much water left in here last year, and still isn't for that matter, but it is making a comeback.

I bought these last February for cold weather riding. I used them some last year and this morning was the first time for this season. They are the Sidi Diablo's and they seem to work well for me. Last year I tested them to only 10F, but I am sure they will go lower. In the morning rain and 38F, my feet were dry and toasty.

Get outdoors and have some Fun!!!

2011 Year of the Great Fall

2011-10-07T05:37:00.002-05:00

I got out for some gravel/trail riding recently. The weather here has been unseasonably warm as of late, so might just as well take advantage of it. This was my garb for this ride...mountain bike, backpack with lunch, camera, gps, and bear spray because I did some hiking on this ride also.

I passed a few of these little grassy swamps yesterday.

There has been some wind along with the warm weather, so the leaves are falling...already :-)

This was the logging job the sign warned of. It was a thin job and they are done now. They only have a couple truck loads to haul.

This little gravel trail came out next to two of the few farms in our area.

It is unbelievable how widespread and destructive the July 1st windstorm that came through eastern MN and northwestern WI really is. This stand of Poplar trees is just some that suffered large scale damage.

The above picture is part of the North Country Trail. There is a lot of hours going into to clearing these trails to be passable again. One day a couple weeks ago while geocaching, I estimated I walked 3 miles of blow down with no trail cut. I can attest to the fact that it is some very tough walking. I often wonder how the critters manage in the blow down area...and how many perished the night of the storm.

This is my favorite type of riding...the riding of little old gravel roads and trails. Just doesn't get much better in my opinion...but that's just me.

This bike has been very good to me.

and

Lets get outdoors and have some Fun!!!

Mountain Bike Geocaching

2011-10-05T21:13:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the absence as I haven't updated the blog in quite sometime. I gave it a good rest and have decided I will give it a go for a while longer. In that time I have picked up the geocaching hobby. It was through reading Joboo that I one day decided to give this a try.

Earlier this week I loaded the mountain bike on the camper and headed for Minnesota's Nemadji State Forest for some caching. This particular area is a power cache area, as the caches are very close together. The mountain bike worked great for this.

The Nemadji Forest is a fantastic area. It has something for any outdoor enthusiast from ATV'ing and motorcycling to hunting and of course geocaching. It was great. I just picked one of the many little pull offs and set up camp. While I was sitting in the camper eating supper one night, I glanced out the window to see two Gray Wolves (Timber Wolves) skirting my camp. There must be a lot on them in this area as the roads were loaded with tracks. Also saw this little fellow above risking life to cross the road, although its odds of getting hit here during the week was quite slim.

I added a new blog to the blog roll called Midwest Chronicles-Alaska to Wisconsin. It has some very nice pictures along with some great write-ups...good reading indeed!!

Get outdoors and have some Fun!!!

Riding the Local Roads

2011-08-19T05:38:00.007-05:00

I have been riding the local roads as of late. I had thought with my long sought after time off, I would have had time to do some touring, or at least some long rides. That has not been the case, as this has been an extremely busy summer and it is not going to let up for at least another month. Our local roads are great to ride though...low traffic and mostly smooth.

The view from the touring cross cockpit.

Some may not like to think this, but fall is on the way.

The end of the rainbow was on our land...I wonder???

Get outdoors and have some Fun!!!

Namekagon Canoe

2011-08-17T05:48:00.001-05:00

Earlier in the summer, Janice and I made a four day canoe trip on the Namekagon River here in Northwest Wisconsin. On that trip we had forgot an essential item for the trip and my parents dropped it off for us at a designated spot, along with some chocolate cake. They had mentioned that they would like to make a canoe trip, and earlier this week we did just that. The above pic was at our launch site, the McDowell Bridge landing.

The river was high from the recent rains, which made conditions ideal.

There are several campsites along the way and this is the one we chose for lunch.

Sore lunch of fish and fresh fried potatoes was on the menu.

Lunch is served!!!

The scenery of the Namekagon offers a little of everything, from high banks on the side to low land. The above is some of the low land.

I am not sure, but I think Janice was checking to see if I was paddling...and I wasn't!!

This is where the Totagatic river dumps into the Namekagon. The Totagatic is on the left. From here the Namekagon continues on about another six miles before it dumps into the St.Croix river which then dumps into the Mississippi.

The two in this canoe represent a lot of river experience...Few canoe at eighty two!! We have been very blessed to have them in our lives and love them dearly.

A place for things to hide.

It was a perfect day...temps about 75, sun didn't beat us and about 17 drops of rain.

This was our take out bridge. For years it was an old steel bridge and it was known as The Steel Bridge. It was replaced a few years ago with this one, so I now call it The Concrete Bridge. I think the real name is something like Namekagon Trail landing. Not for sure...I am sticking with the Concrete Bridge.

remember...Get outdoors and have some fun!!!

Ride on the Gitchi

2011-08-13T06:12:00.001-05:00

Janice and I made a trip up along the north shore of Lake Superior recently so that I could ride the Gitchi-Gami State Trail. Although only about 25 miles of the 88 are completed, this trail will eventually lead from Two Harbors to Grand Maris MN along the shores of Lake Superior.

This is a view from the top of the Blatnik Bridge. It is one of three bridges connecting Minnesota and Wisconsin in this area.

Our plan was for me to ride a completed portion of the trail from Minnesota's Goose Berry Falls State park to Beaver Bay and back...and while I was riding the trail, Janice picked a nice spot near the falls to read a book.

This was the bike I chose for this days ride.

Goose Berry was a popular place on this day, as it is on any of days.

This is not a rail trail. It has some nice hills and it is very scenic, because as I said before, it travels close to the big lake.

The construction was the downfall to this ride. The trail had little pieces of rocks here and there along the construction area. One of this little rocks I hit, a person could quite literally shave with it. Although small, about the size of a thumb nail, it was razor sharp.

It cut completely through the casing of the tire and of course punctured the new tube I had installed 9 miles previous. That is the way the ball bounces sometimes.

A person can't let little things like a ruined tire and a punctured tube spoil the day...and we didn't. We played tourist on the way back stopping at some of the access points to the beach, explored a new area to kayak I recently learned of and ordered some pizza for a lunch on the beach. Goooood time!!

Kayaking the Brule

2011-07-27T22:19:00.001-05:00

Earlier this week I made a kayak trip down the Brule River from Stones Bridge to Winneboujoe. In order to make this trip, my lovely wife was nice enough to help me out with the logistics before she went to work in the morning. This meant she had to leave for work nearly two hours earlier than normal. She hasn't complained even once about helping me in all of the little treks I get ideas to do. Be it bicycling, hiking, camping, or this kayak trip for instance, she is always there to help...now that is special.

Due to the fact it was early in the AM when I got on the river, it was very calm for much of the trip.

The spring fed Brule River begins its 44 mile flow north to Lake Superior in a bog swamp near Solon Springs, WI. I think an interesting little tidbit is that a very short distance from where the Brule River begins its journey towards the big lake, the St. Croix river also starts its journey in the opposite direction to the mighty Mississippi.

From a slow moving meandering river, to wider narrow lake areas, to shoots of narrow rapids that don't offer much room for error and drop in elevation quickly, this river has everything one could expect a river to offer.

Some maneuvering required.

May have to stay low now and again.

While I was stopped here for lunch, a young couple went by in kayaks. Now that in its self is not unusual, as there are canoe/kayak outfitters that service the river...the fact that they didn't see me is. They say it takes about 4 hours to do this section of river...took me 8 hours...no hurry here. :-) lol he he

I had a few sprinkles of rain, which did no harm and only added to the richness of the trip.

Although it is no longer living, it's serving nature. It's good fish habitat and slowly going to the earth.

One of the many boat houses on the river.

Although parts of the Brule have homes and vacation retreats, the entire river is in Wisconsin's Brule River State Forest.

I come across two groups of Merganser ducks...one group of 7 and another of 21. They are interesting to watch, especially when they are under water...they are fast, very fast.

This Whitetail deer is looking for food and she was finding it. I watched her as she searched for the weed she wanted, ducked her head and came out chewing.

Because of the Brule being spring fed, and also dumping into Lake Superior, it is well known as a good trout fishery. Although I caught Brook Trout, it also has Browns, Rainbows and Salmon.

Get outdoors and have some fun!!

Visiting Friends at the Rendezvous

2011-07-25T22:18:00.001-05:00

Janice and I stopped over to visit our friends at the Forts Folle Avoine Rendezvous near Danbury, WI this past weekend. We had never been to one of these before, and I must admit I didn't know what to expect, but it was a lot of fun.

I'm sorry I didn't snap many pictures of the tent areas. This is a very large event. We mostly visited and wandered around through the different sections of the camp.

Little guy getting up from a nap and getting his moc's on.

This is our friends at their camp. Some may recognize the father of this picture as a guy that I do some biking with.

This is a gathering of children in which the fellow standing on the left gives a little spiel to them, then fires off a canon that is loaded with candy.

The pic above is shortly after the firing. The children then do the search for the candy. They were having loads of fun.

This is pic is of one of the market areas.

And...if you have any ills

Want to buy a canoe? They have them here.

This is an oven...Pizza anyone? Bet it would be good.

Two eagles kitchen is where we ate.

Fry Bread and Praire Dogs

Musical instruments too.

Blacksmith is available

We will be going to another one of these. Fun was had.

After eating at Two Eagles we stopped over to the family cabin, and as we were sitting on the dock, this eagle flew right over us...but of course I am slow on the draw with the camera.

Beat'in the Heat

2011-07-21T14:19:00.000-05:00

Like a lot of the country, we have been in a heat wave here in Northern Wisconsin. Days of late have reached near 100. Yesterday we had an appointment to have our truck serviced in Superior, so rather than wait around the dealership, I brought a bicycle along and went for a little ride through the western side of town. I figured it was going to be warm as the appointment was for 2.5 hours starting at 2:00 in the afternoon, and it was warm.

I hit the Millennium trail and rode that out to the end. Granted it is not very long, but for people the live near it, I think it is a real gem. Walking, in-line skating, jogging and using it as a connection to the rest of town seems like it would be very useful, although I only met one person while I was on it. Maybe with the temperature reading at 97F when I got back had something to do with lack of people.

It is a very scenic area.

It hits Billings Drive which has bike/pedestrian lanes on both sides on the blacktop portion. Shortly after where this picture was taken it changes to gravel. I had planned on riding that portion also, but the city was grading it as I was there. I rode about a half mile down that portion and decided, no, turn and go back. It was very soft. Even though it was warm and humid, it was a good way to spend a couple of hours...water and Powerade, lots of it.

Amnicon Falls State Park

Janice and I also made a trip up to Amnicon Falls State Park to walk around. Even though this park is maybe 30 miles from us, we have rarely visited it. With the weather warm...o.k., hot...we drove up for a walk around.

Our new daughter (in law), Bobbi Jo, has worked there for three years. She tells us many people have their marriage ceremony here on this bridge.

Although my $100 dollar camera doesn't do it justice, it is a pretty area indeed.

They have interpretive signs and benches near the many falls in the park. It is a nice view to just sit, watch and relax.

I recommend it to everyone.

Get outdoors and have some fun!!

because someone said

"Whether the weather be fine, Whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold, Whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather, Whatever the whether, Whether we like it or not."

100+ Degrees Spells Trouble

2011-07-04T16:11:00.001-05:00

For those who do not know, we live in the northwest corner of Wisconsin. This is an area dotted with lakes...lots and lots of lakes. It is for this reason many of the roads wind around the lakes and over the creeks and rivers. Trees grow close to the roads and next to houses and cabins.

It was last Friday afternoon and the temp was around the 100 mark, which sometimes lead to afternoon thunderstorms in our area. I decided to take the kayak down the St. Croix river near our house to do some fishing. I was catching Small Mouth Bass one right after another. My original plan was just go down river a little and then paddle back up, but the fish were biting so well, I thought why not go a little farther down and be picked up. I was about a mile downstream when I felt just a hint of a cool in a breeze. I lifted my sunglasses, surveyed the sky and thought...no, you turn around and get back to the landing as fast as possible. Good decision ! ! I met 4 kayaks just before getting back. I told them that I thought we were going to get a storm and it is moving fast. At first they ignored me but shortly later I heard "I think he's right. We better go back." Another good decision.

There was at least one tornado. I cannot remember any storm doing such a large area of damage. It is an area that stretches for miles. These are some pictures of the storm damage, but I didn't take many. This link will take you to some more. It shows a good mix of the damage.

Along with the property damage came at least one death. It was a young girl. The power will be out for days in some areas. So this brings me to this, along with the social media, I hear people complaining about being without power for so long. The house in this picture above belongs to someone who works for a power company. So he works the day the storm hits, plus works through the night and into the next morning and comes home to this. There is a very good chance that after all the hours he already worked, he now has time to look at his damage and be back to work at his job in 6 hours for another very very long shift. I have talked to 7 people from our two local electric companies and one of the seven is a close relative that is a lineman for one of these. I talked to him Saturday about noon. He was beat, but still going. The hours they put in and the sacrifices they make, and will continue to make, are astounding!

When I hear and read the lack of understanding and compassion some people have, I am dumbfounded. It just amazes me. There are people mourning the loss of life (two dead, 39 injured, three critical in just one of the several counties affected) and yet some people complain because they can't flush their toilet, can't cook their pizza or they have food in the freezer that may spoil. Can they not see what had just happened?

Along with the lineman, there are brushing crews, mechanics and the office people doing everything from answering phones to dispatch to communicating with the families of the workers. Many of these will not see much of their family during disasters such as this. Any Fourth of July plans they had are just that...Plans

So for everyone out there, I would suggest to look at the big picture and say thanks to these people.

OH, and Get outdoors and have some fun ! ! !

Canoe Camping

2011-06-27T05:52:00.002-05:00

Janice and I recently made a camping canoe trip on the Namekagon and St. Croix rivers. Mostly the Namekagon. The name Namekagon is derived from the Ojibwe language Namekaagong-ziibi, meaning "River at the place abundant with Sturgeons." We live very close to these rivers and do not spend enough time on them, although this marked the forth time this year, but the first time river camping this year. Some of my fondest memories as a child come from these rivers. It was time spent with grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Great memories ! !

My grandfather was a guide, so he and his sons knew every inch of the river. This was passed on to me, but in recent years I have neglected this valuable gift. I do plan to change that.

These rivers come under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968. These were the first rivers east of the Mississippi to fall under this act. I remember these rivers before that came in to effect. I know this is hard to believe for some, but I know of places on the Namekagon where the river has completely changed it course, notice I said places (plural). I just find it hard to believe that I have seen this happen. No bullshit ! ! I have lived to see it happen and I don't think I am that old...must be though.

We left for the trip on Thursday evening and when we set up camp the first night, I discovered a bonehead move I made was forgetting the gas bottle for our MSR Dragonfly stove. I store the bottle in the garage and the stove in the basement with the other camping gear. I am going to change that. Fortunately for modern technology, I called my parents on the cell phone (some of these photos taken by the very same cell phone,) and they bailed us out by bringing us the bottle the next day at one of the landings. Oh, and Mom baked a cake and brought that too. Gooooood Cake. Thanks Mom and Dad...Love you guys !!

We didn't need the stove the second night anyway...Steak and potatoes. Although I did make coffee with MSR.

On this trip of roughly 36 miles, there are about 40 camp sites. Each of them have a sign marking the site with the mileage listed.

At each campsite, there is a restroom to use.

This is the path to the restroom.

And...this is the restroom. Bring your own paper.

We were on the river from Thursday evening to Sunday. We usually get up early, have breakfast and get out on the river early. I like being on the river early, picking camp early in the afternoon and relaxing on the river bank into the night.

Trees hanging on for life.

This picture of the sunset brings us to this blog. I started this blog mostly to be mostly about biking. I have veered from time to time, but mostly biking. I have recently given it a break and still haven't decided how much longer I will be at this. First issues loading pictures, then issues with posting and now with comments. I have tried commenting on blogs and I come up with anonymous as a poster. Last but not least, now that I am retired, I spend much less time on the computer...don't have time. We will see how things go. If you take anything away from this drivel, it should be this, if at all possible get out and use these rivers...or any other rivers.

Get outdoors and have some fun ! ! !

2011 MS150

2011-06-12T21:18:00.000-05:00

These are the three of us pictured here (Brandon, Eric and myself), that comprised our little group of the about 3400 people that rode the Minnesota MS 150 charity bicycle ride. I should note my wife Janice was the driver of our support vehicle. The ride is a two day event that starts in Proctor and overnights in Hinckley the first day, and then runs from Hinckley to White Bear Lake the second day. This equals to about 75 miles per day. We were fast this year. We stopped at every rest stop (5 per day), even had lunch and still finished up at 11:00 the first day and 11:15 the second...I had a flat the second day 1 mile from the finish. Eric spent most of the time in front pulling us along, and a lot of that time the speedo was reading between 19.5 and 22.5. It just seemed every time I would glance down at it was reading in the low 20's. I should note a lot of this ride is on rail to trail trails. I need to say a big thanks to Eric and Brandon for a great weekend of riding. I had FUN ! ! !

Get outdoors and have some fun ! ! !

Saving Gas

2011-05-18T21:47:00.001-05:00

I had an appointment this morning four towns down from our little town, so I thought why not ride the bike there. It ended up to be a 64 mile round trip. I made it 12 miles in before the first layer come off and shortly there after I was down to just shorts and jersey. We had a very strong ENE wind which meant the last 25 miles were hard miles. I still think riding against a hard wind should qualify for extra credit.

I saw these Sandhill Cranes near Trego WI. They seem to be more of these showing up every year. They are a huge bird when fully grown.

I wanted to vary the route back a little since it was an out and back ride...obviously I did know this road well. I thought it was Blacktop, and it turns out it is for about 100 yards, then gravel. The 700 x 23 tires were not ideally the best for this. We made it through, although I did need to un-clip a couple of times.

More loose gravel...only about a 1/4 mile here, but I needed to ride this both ways. Bike will need a good cleaning after today, as this portion was little wet.

I noticed blogger had some issues last week. I lost a post and then the comments that were associated with it disappeared and never did come back. Pictures have been a pain to load as of late also. Maybe I'm just loosing patience with the whole thing. Thanks for reading and participating in the comment section.

Welcome to the area None ! !

Get outdoors and have some fun ! ! !

Rock Lake

2011-05-11T21:52:00.000-05:00

I rode the Rock Lake trail in the CAMBA trail system and it rocks as usual. Dano, I too wish you were there riding with me. It was 3 hours 15 minutes of ride time, alone. It seems every spring it takes a single track ride to put my riding shape in perspective. Every year it's like I feel I am in good riding shape, then I go hit up the first single track of the year and it kicks my ass. This ride was no different.

The Rock Lake trailhead is east of Cable WI on Bayfield County Highway M. There are massive amounts of single track in CAMBA system. Joboo, this year I am getting to MN and to check out the Cuyuna trails.

Although there are many parking spots that doesn't require a fee, the area I parked at today had a $5.00 daily fee. Therefore, I couldn't afford the breakfast in Hayward, so oatmeal at home had to do Jeff...just kidding.

Being spring and we have had our fair share of rain, I wondered what kind of shape the trails would be in. Worried for naught, for they were excellent! ! !

I rode the outer most loop which takes you by several small lakes.

And...The No Hands Bridge.

I used both hands and did not ride the cut across board today.

Another little lake. I may have to pack in a fishing pole some time and give fishing a go on some of these.

This was added from the last time I was here...Wall street.

This is the back side of Wall Street. Fall here and you fall hard.

There was a time when my goal was to ride this entire loop without unclipping...didn't happen today and may never happen again. BUT, great fun was had.

I did enjoy it Trevor, so I thought I would post a little bike porn just to prove it.

Get outdoors and have some fun ! ! !

Anthem is Ready

2011-05-10T05:52:00.001-05:00

Anthem is ready for some CAMBA single track today. Pressure set in the fork, in the shock, in the tires and a new chain installed makes the bike ready. We will see if the rider is. Maybe some breakfast in Hayward would help.

Drive///Bike///Kayak

2011-05-04T22:03:00.000-05:00

I had decided if the weather was nice, a day long Kayak trip was in order. Today was the day. I drove to where the St. Croix river crosses Douglas County highway T and left the truck and bicycled back the 12 miles to the start and leisurely kayaked to the truck.

Good day with the temps probably around the +70F mark, but a very strong SSW wind...which was the direction I was heading most of the time down river.

I did see a lot of ducks and also a few Bald Head Eagles, like this one sitting high in the tree hanging over the river looking for lunch.

This goose kept a close eye on me as I coasted by.

I stopped a little over half way down where the Buckley creek dumps in to the St. Croix for lunch. I cooked up soup and dried out some clothes. They were wet again 10 minutes after I had left this spot.

This is the Buckley Creek just before it dumps into the St Croix.

I can't remember seeing a porcupine in such a small tree. Between the weight of the porky and the wind a howling, he was really swaying in that little tree.

Just a pic of the river.

This a spring that is well known by the locals. The tree in the back ground has just recently went over, but it fell in a direction that it did not harm the spot where people drink from. I remember stopping here when I was just little and drinking from here. There was a cup here when I was small and still one here today.

Get outdoors and have some fun ! ! !

It Was Nice

2011-04-29T19:25:00.000-05:00

Today marks the first day I did not have report for work, and don't think that was an easy decision, so on this first day I thought I would do a little biking...surprised? Bicycling for me is a good activity to think things out and clear the mind.

A pic of the St. Croix river.

The Moose River

A swamp on Douglas County Highway M

The Tamarack River as it crosses M

Some cows out enjoying the the grass that is greening up nicely in our area now.

I decided to venture off on some of the Dairyland township roads. When I left the blacktop road they didn't look bad but they soon turned soft.

To say the roads had some soft spots would be an understatement. I don't know if you can see the people standing on the road in the background, but I am quite sure they were questioning my intelligence. When I passed by their cabin they were standing in the yard. I stopped to snap this photo and I noticed they were standing on the road. I am only guessing they wanted to watch me ride through the mud.

I didn't have to walk any of the roads, but it was close. I am glad I have this ride geared low now or I would've been walking for sure.

This picture was actually before the mud run. I ended up with 43 miles. The temps were around the +70F mark with a stout SSE wind.

Get outdoors and have some fun ! ! !

Sping testing

2011-04-25T20:42:00.000-05:00

Hitting up the back roads on the cross bike with temps around 70.

Running the triple chain rings and the cassette changed to a much larger version should result in being able to pull the loaded B.O.B trailer up the side of a mountain...should is the key word here.

Namekagon Canoe

2011-04-23T20:40:00.000-05:00

Janice and I rode a canoe down the Namekagon River today. Although the weather didn't match what the weather people said, it was still good. I had planned on making a stop and cooking soup, but I forgot the gas bottle for the stove at home so that didn't happen. We did pack a ham and cheese sandwich, so we did have some calories to keep us warm.

It was a nice peaceful float. The water is a little higher than summer time because of the winter runoff, but most of that spring runoff is gone now.

The beaver had a lot of chewing on that tree.

We did not see any others on the river today. I wonder what that says about us.

Get outdoors and have some fun ! ! !

Good time Wednesday

2011-04-20T20:37:00.000-05:00

We started the Wednesday after work fitness rides a week ago, so we have had two rides so far. We had three riders last week and two tonight...Eric and I. I was on the fixed gear tonight because that is my ride if the roads are salty, and they were calling for a possibility of snow which meant that would be my bike of choice for those type of conditions. So at +39F and a couple drops of rain a person can't complain...well you could complain, but what does that do for you. Or, you could just not go and say those guys are nuts, I'm not riding in that...but whats that do for ya. Snow didn't happen, wind was strong out of the WSW and Eric was nice enough to take it easy and pull me along. Thanks man. It was a good time.

Get outdoors and have some fun ! ! !

Spring has Sprung

2011-04-11T23:58:00.001-05:00

I have had the cross bike out the last two rides and it was a welcome change, but more work than the road bike, although it does ride much better with the noisy and wide 35mm tires. This is the bike I am thinking of using for some touring with this summer. I have hauled the BOB trailer with it but only for about 100 miles. I think I will change the cassette and tires to make it a little more hill friendly and give it a go.

Just two of my favorite things...Bicycling and Golf. I did both today.

The temperatures have been nice as of late so most of the snow is gone. In the 70's the Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, so that has left a very small amount in a extra shady area, but that is about it.

The spring peepers are out in force. It has made for some very noisy rides around here, but it is a good noise. I got in 19 miles Monday and another 30 plus today.

Spring Ride

2011-04-09T13:24:00.001-05:00

On Friday with the temperature around the 70F mark, it was much too nice not to get out for a ride.

The Moose River at the Mail Rd bridge

I think one of the great things about riding this time of the year is that without the foilage you can see far into the woods. Makes the woods look inviting. Down side is that you can see just how much people litter.

Another photo of the Moose. Back in the day we use to canoe this river during the spring run off. It is a wild ride this time of year between picking which way to go and ducking trees. I have gotten wet during these crazy excursions.

One of the local trout streams

This is a photo the water crossing over County Highway M. It is not bad this year as this was the only place the water crossed the road in the ten miles I rode on M today. We have had years where water crosses several places in that 10 miles. There is only one resident that lives at about the half way point which makes this one of my favorite highways to ride.

A lot of water on this ride. No spring peepers here yet...soon though.

This is one of the roads I ride often in the summer. They close it during the wet season to prevent shitting it up.

Obivously the signs do not apply to everyone. There are some very soft spots further back in on these roads. Soft enough to get a vehicle good and stuck.

36 mile ride, stopping and visiting neighbors on the way equalled a very good time.

Get outdoors and have some fun ! ! !

Spring Fever

2011-04-06T21:25:00.000-05:00

On a recent bicycle ride I stopped and ate my lunch here by the river. I was thinking then that it would be nice to spend some time here in a canoe or kayak again, as I had when I was younger. Today was the day. I put the kayak in here on St Croix River near Gordon and paddled up river about 4.5 to 5 miles.

Nice day to spend not working. The place I work at has cut hours to 32 hours a week due to a downturn in business. Today is the day I am off this week...so far. For those that don't know, soon I will be off full time.

I also paddled up the Eau Claire River from the St. Croix as far as I could go and not make too much work of it. Beyond the downed trees is one of the local swimming holes called Finstads Bridge. Local kids come here to swim when parents won't take them to one of the many lakes surrounding this area. I spent some time there in my youth.

This is still the Eau Claire...but I think you can see where it dumps into the St. Corix from here.

We used to duck hunt this area when we youngsters . Guess what we called this...The Big Rock...creative huh

Stopped here for a little break and a snack. The river is a little wider here, so that is what made it good for the ducks. A nice flyway.

An Eagle nest. We are fortunate to have many Eagles in our area. I saw some today, but the pictures didn't turn out well because I was too far away...that and I have a cheapo camera. Good enough for me though.

It was nice to be out today. Spring fever one might say.

Get outdoors and have some fun ! ! !

Soup's On

2011-04-03T18:00:00.001-05:00

With my new found freedom close at hand, not only am I hoping to get some bicycle trips in this summer, but also spending some time in the bush. Multi day kayak trips and such. One of the ideas we had was to vacuum pack some soup mix to cook up. I experimented today with how it would work and it is a go. A bag of Mrs Grass soup will make a half gallon so I decided to divide it to make 2 cup servings. This brand comes in many different flavors and is mighty tasty.

This will be year 3 with this stove. It has gotten a lot of use and works very well for us. It is not the smallest out there, but I like it because it is very easy to control the heat. I looked around for a can of pop to give an idea of the size but we didn't have one in the house, so this bottle will have to do.

It is a MSR DragonFly model. It weights in at 1.2 lbs and will burn several different types of fuel We choose to use white gas. The burn time with this stove running full bore high with the 33oz fuel tank filled with white gas is 208 minutes. Running it with kerosene would extend the run time to 253 minutes, but with that comes a loss of the rate at which it heats. With white gas this stove will boil 1 liter of water in 3.5 minutes, where as kerosene is 3.9 minutes. Diesel heats at the same rate of white gas, burns longer at 225 minutes for 33oz, but I think the gas is all around cleaner to deal with.

They make 3 different size fuel bottles for the MSR. The largest is 33 ounces, another at 22oz and yet another at 11oz. We use the 33 because there are usually two of us. I may consider getting a smaller one now.

With only two cups of water used to make this soup, it was boiling very quick.

As I said before, it is very easy to control the heat so simmering the soup was easy. However, I am curious how much fuel this stove burns with it turned down. I know it is much less, but what I don't know is how much less.

To me soup taste especially good on cool rainy days, but it never rains when a person spends time in the backwoods...does it?

We took the bag of soup, which we got on sale for $2.49 at a Farm and Fleet store, divided it into 4, wrapped it in a coffee filter and vacuum packed it.

Ready for the pack.

Riding with an old friend...Mr. Derailluer

2011-03-31T04:48:00.002-05:00

With the temperature around +50F on Wednesday, I figured it was a good day to get out on the bike.

A sure sign of spring in our area is when the local townships post wieght limits on the town roads. They do this because when the frost comes out of the ground, the road base gets soft and they are vulnerable to damage. The limits this year went in to effect March 14 at noon and usually come off about May 1st.

There is still some snow on the ATV/Snowmobile/Multiple use trails.

Nice quiet roads to ride...

And this is why. I would guess that 80% of the driveways are not plowed meaning they are not being used. I rode in the vincinity of 15 lakes yesterday. A lot of these lakes have cabin/houses that belong to snowbirds and then there are others that just don't use them in the winter. That is good for me. I like that. It doesn't bother me that they're not around.

It is election time for the townships around our area. If any of you out there think national, or state elections for that matter, are down and dirty, you should witness the small town politics. The national and state scene doesn't hold a candle to this town. It is not always that way, but has been for the last few years. This township covers 133sq miles and has an overall population of about 754. The nearest building to these signs is probably over a mile away, but there are 5 campaign signs here. Bill Moyers says “Intelligence has nothing to do with politics,” and I believe him.

Another quiet road

Stopped by the river and birds are plenty this time of year. The Trumpeter Swans are year around residents, as are the Eagles because this section of the St. Croix River very seldom freezes completely over.

I sat here, ate my banana and watched the birds.

I chased up two Mallards when I walked down here and the geese are plentiful.

It was a great afternoon with about 25 miles of riding. Just one of the good things was my steed had a derailluer. I ride the fixed gear in the winter, but it was nice enough yesterday to get a road bike out and it was nice to be able to coast.

Get out and have some Fun ! !

Short Timer?

2011-03-29T20:23:00.001-05:00

I have been riding almost every night after work, although they have been short rides of about 15 miles. Ummm, maybe that's why they are calling me short timer at work. I don't think I'm short.

Oh Goodie!!!

2011-03-21T18:47:00.000-05:00

Was it a nice ride tonight or what? At about 15 miles, the temp around 45F with the wind from the northerly direction and best of all, no cars. I did see one, but he turned on another road before we met.

I think it happens almost every year, the weather starts getting more like spring and then Whammmmy...calling for blizzard conditions with 8 to 16 inches of snow. Great. I hear they are already revising the forecast though, that and depending on which channel one listens to, who knows? The Shadow knoooows.

Look Ma...No studs

2011-03-17T20:55:00.000-05:00

I haven't updated this in a while, but you haven't missed much either. The weather here has been well received by everyone I know of, except for maybe Eric who wants more ride time on the big tire prototype. It was over 50F today with the sun shining bright so it was time to get outside.

The blacktop roads are clearing up nicely so I changed out the studded tires on the fixie last night.

The fixie sporting the summer cross rubber. Don't get me wrong, the studs are nice on snow and ice covered roads, but the first ride of spring with the studded tires hanging in the garage sure is sweet. The tree in the background most likely will not be around much longer as it was food for the Porcupine this winter.

For you Jeff...They have plowed the driveway to our local golf course. Now if we can just get rid of some snow.

Great roads with rolling hills and not one auto did I see, made for a very nice afternoon for the fixie and me.

This is one of the multiple use trails in the area. I think the snowmobiles are done using it this season.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. ~Lao Tzu

Smile Ride

2011-03-02T21:07:00.000-06:00

Guess who's turn it is with the EP Cycles prototype...if you guessed me, you guessed right. This thing is amazing and I had loads of fun riding it this evening.

It was a 12.3 mile smile ride.

With the 2 x 9 gearing, I didn't have to hike-a-bike any hills and never once got near the top gear. The Sram XO shifters were smooth and crisp.

I rode some of everything tonight. I had about a mile of this 2" of fluff snow on top of our now very hard crusty base...handled it well.

This section of the ride was my favorite...the single track snowmobile trail.

Here I was riding on one of our snowmobile highways. I didn't see anybody out on the trails tonight.

The above photo is of my son and their dog Nitro. Even though it is a little blurry because photography isn't my strong suit, it is good enough to see the smile on his face. I am of the opinion that anybody that gets on this will have a smile.

From The Builder: EP Cycles Fat Tire Prototype

2011-02-28T18:32:00.001-06:00

With great honor, I, Eric was asked to do a write up on the bike. This is my first blog posting, so go easy on me. :)

It seems as though it has been forever since we originally discussed the fat tire build and now the dreams are finally a reality. I finished fabrication Friday morning and quickly brought it over to the paint booth to throw some self etching primer and a nice satin red paint on it so I could start assembly right after work at 3:00. I got about halfway thru assembly on Friday before the girlfriend started requiring more attention, so I put the tools down until the morning. I woke up early Saturday due to an inability to stay asleep so i went to finish the build and take a quick shake down ride. Everything seemed to go pretty well with the assembly, and with the exception of 2 things I am very pleased. The first is the fork. A minor/major detail was overlooked when purchasing it. Apparently Salsa uses a REAR 135mm ss hub with a FRONT disc mount(IMHO two thumbs down). We have a FRONT 135 hub and the rotor flange is located just under 1/8" further outboard, and although it's kinda irritating, we do have a few options. 1: No front break for now(which is what I did and liked) 2: Cut the mount off and relocate it(which is what I will eventually do) 3: Switch to a Fatback fork(Which we will probably do for the future builds). 4: Switch to a rear hub for the front(which we will definitely NOT be doing). The second issue is with the front derailleur. It functions great but is way too big for what we need. I'm thinking of going to a small road d that I can modify to work better. There are many options here too.

I made it out for about 2 hours on Sunday and let me tell you, this thing is amazing. I couldn't help but smile and laugh the entire time. I've been mountain biking for some 20 years and must say this thing is the most enjoyable bike I have ever ridden..... by far!

Running all 3 internals in the down tube was crazy but I think the results are exceptional.

I picked up some red single speed chain ring bolts from Dennis which I think was definitely the right move.

I really like the look of the internal housings, but I love the way the rear brake housing just lines up perfectly with the brake. It was no accident, it was not easy, and it was way worth it!!

The seat post clamp that I got down at the bike swap for $1 was just a bit on the big size so I appropriately made some aluminum shims for now.

I tell Ya

2011-02-18T19:34:00.000-06:00

I am sure most have heard, "The younger generation, I tell ya." Well, let me use today's write up to tell you about just some I know.

The first lighting system Eric put together 2 years ago which I have put a lot miles on and still use. This year Brandon has an improved version. The picture above is of the DIY lighting system put together by Brandon. These have machined aluminum housing with the weight strategically reduced. This system uses 20 watt halogen bulbs and has a battery life of 2.5 hours for each pack. Did I mention these are blinding bright. They work well.

This is the handlebar version and it weights in at a shade over 10 ounces including the housing, light, switch and mount.

And this is the helmet version. This little beauty is only 4 oz. Also the remote battery packs are nice and light coming in at 14 oz. The combination of the battery packs with the halogen bulbs make this a very nice lighting system.

The big tire frame is coming along nicely. Jeremy and Chris are CNC machine specialist. They have been helping all the way along with fixture and frame parts. Carbon fiber fenders are also in the works and I am here to tell you, even though they cover a very big tire, they are very very light. Jeremy has already manufactured some and they are going to be sweeeeeetttt.

I have mentioned that Eric is the designer and welder of the big tire frame. Here he is doing some polishing.

With in a week, the proto-type will most likely be completely built and ready to ride.

Man, this younger generation...I tell ya! !

Practice

2011-02-16T20:12:00.001-06:00

I decided to get some practice in to prepare for my upcoming early retirement, so I took a half day of vacation and went for a 2.5 mile snowshoe. Things went well...I may be able to handle it.

It has been unseasonably warm here as of late with today around the 50F mark. Snow///ice was melting from under this abandon Moose River bridge.

I crossed the Moose River and walked up along the St Croix River.

This is a hole the River Otter has kept open. I went by a lot of these today. I have more pictures of them that are more recent with fresh tracks, but I liked this picture, so this is the one we put in.

I took 51 photos today and have loaded up some.

Ice flows in Scotts Rapids

The wood peckers have been busy along the river.

My tracks along the river

River Otter tracks. They run...and slide. I didn't see them doing this today, but I have witnessed it. Kind of neat to see.

Some of the ice was falling in today.

A lot of roots here...shallow roots

I blogged about this place one other time. Click here if you wish to see that one.

One of the summer residents of this old cabin. It is no longer occupied by the human.

At about 1.25 miles up along the St Croix River from the West Mail, I hit the North Country hiking trail and followed that most of the way back.

If even some of these retirement days are like this one...oooohhhhh man!!!

And speaking of practice...practice!!! Anyone remember Allen

Sidi Trial

2011-02-12T20:21:00.001-06:00

It was in October that I ordered some new Lake MXZ302 winter biking shoes. Notice these aren't them. They were due to deliver middle of November...then middle of December...then two more weeks they will be shipped and they will not be getting any in the size I ordered, so OK, I'll go up one size, might be better anyway and they will ship at the end of the week...NOT ! ! I finally ordered a pair of these, the Sidi Diablo GTX. I tried them out today and they worked great at around the 30F mark for an hour and a half and I am sure they will be comfortable in temperatures much colder because I allowed room for two pair of woolies.

Very nice day to ride.

It snowed most of time and some of the roads I rode today were free of tracks. I changed that. I always like leaving bike tracks in fresh snow. It gives people something to talk about, as if I don't already give'em enough to talk about.

Eric has been busy with the big tire builds... frame with the Brandon/Eric heat sinks still installed.

The frame is getting ready for the chainstays next. They are cut, fitted and ready to go on in a couple days.

Build Update

2011-02-10T19:20:00.000-06:00

The big tire designing and building is on going. There are some really cool things happening, such as these killer dropouts. These are the same dropouts used on the Civia Bryant. They are designed so you do not need a split frame if you wish to run a belt drive. They also are designed with an interchangeable dropout section so that a person may run it horizontal or vertical to accommodate single or multi-speed, which ever your current drive lust may be. This means that by easily changing the drop out you have the capability of belt drive, chain drive, internal multi-speed hub or a chain cassette, single speed...hell, run it fixed if that's what you want. You get the idea. This bike will also feature a chainstay mounted disc brake for even more coolness.

This is a photo of the head tube and down tube. If you notice the little holes, they are for the internal cable routing. The intended cables for use on this one will be the Gore Ride On sealed version. Very nice cables indeed.

The cables will exit near the bottom bracket where this down tube will be so expertly attached.

Smile!

PS...just got news the front triangle was tacked up today. It will not be long before all the pieces come together :-)

A Beautiful Mid Winter Ride

2011-02-06T22:09:00.000-06:00

I had a stroke of good luck today...the tire was flat while still in the garage and not out on the road. The front hadn't lost any air but the back lost 65lbs overnight. Turns out the tube had an un-repairable leak next to the stem. The rubber is quite thick where the leak was so it must have been operator error somewhere along the line. So before today's ride it was throw in a new tube time. Better at home than on the road in the cold...and very possibly could have been dark also, as a lot of my winter riding is during the hours of darkness. Today's pictures are again from the cell phone and are a bit fuzzy, but I may have figured something out. I carry that thing in my front jeans pocket all the time and after I loaded the crappy pics up again this time I looked at the phone. I will say there was a bit of dust and lint hanging around in the places there probably shouldn't be any if want to take pictures.

The above pic is of the driveway of our local golf course, Gordon Pines. It may be a while before they are ready to open.

Most of the roads were in this condition today, which is perfect for studded tire riding.

There was very little traffic today. I think people may have been staying home resting up for the Super Bowl game, as there are a lot of Green Bay Packer fans in this area.

The temp was around the 25F mark as I left this morning. I rode 21+ miles of snow covered roads that were in perfect winter riding conditions. We have been busy most weekends, so it was nice to get and ride during the daylight. Very good time.

Happy Birthday Brian ! ! !

2011-01-30T18:10:00.000-06:00

Our oldest son was born on this date, Jan. 30th, 1984. We usually have family get togethers on birthdays to have a lunch or supper. Brian this year wanted his birthday dinner at the cabin and I liked that idea. We spent the weekend there fishing and eating...did I mention eating. It seems like we eat massive quantities when we are there...snacks and big meals. For example Brian wanted Tacos for his dinner, so we had Tacos, Jimmy Dean dip with chips, Birthday Cake, homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and then made another batch of Maple Nut for good measure.

We fished on the lake straight out from our cabin, so some people stayed on the lake and fished and others stayed indoors.

It was nice to see my Dad catch the prize fish of the day...click picture for full effect. I said earlier that Brian was born in 1984...this guy was born in 1929. He spent all day on the lake. Both he and my Mom are very active in retirement. Hopefully I will follow in their footsteps, because retirement for me appears to be right around the corner.

This was the youngest guy there this weekend and he was successful also. This meant we had fish for breakfast...along with scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and jam and some Rice Crispy bars, some with chocolate and some with out. This breakfast is an example of what I was saying earlier...We eat when we are at the cabin.

Eating and scratching want but a beginning.

Yes, No, Maybe So

2011-01-28T17:39:00.001-06:00

It is looking as though I may have an option for early retirement coming available soon. I am finding this decision very difficult to make. I have been at this job for 34.5 years, I like the job and more importantly I like the guys I work with. On the other hand, I commute 50 to 55 minutes one way 5 days a week. Tonight's commute was just great...through a snowstorm. Monetairly we would take a hit, but not enough to cause hardship. My wife, who is very generous, would continue to work for 8 to 10 years. She has what we consider a secure job with good benefits and pay, plus as an added bonus she likes her job and co-workers. If anything she has been pushing me to the retirement side...bless her heart. We have even gone as far as making plans for doing a couple of bike tours.

Yes...No...Maybe So ? ? ?

Outdoors

2011-01-25T21:36:00.002-06:00

I had a complaint that the last few posts have been about bike parts and nothing outdoors...How's this...This is outdoors. I have a snowmobile my Dad and Mom gave me that doesn't get a lot of use...first time this year. I use it for packing the trails around our place for cross country skiing and sometimes I putt around the area close to home, but that has been about it the last few years. My father was a pioneer of the snowmobile trails in our area. He was the man that made the first snowmobile trail that actually left our little town and went someplace. People teasingly called him Trail Boss, and in reality, he was. He later made the plans for many of the Douglas County trails, garnering easements and sometimes working in conjunction with neighboring counties to expand the riding possibilities even further. The result from this early snowmobile trail pioneering today is astounding. I rode 70 miles tonight leaving home about 4:30 and getting back home around 7:00, and that would not be possible except for the exceptional trails I rode. They call them table top...hard and smooth. Just look at the pictures. A person needs to be very careful out there these days, especially with the way the trails were tonight, and I fully understand the desire to grab a fist full of throttle, as I was riding these machines at a very young age. Yearly in Wisconsin, there are several people killed. The snowmobiles today are very fast. Zero mph to 100 mph in seconds, but on the other hand, 100mph to zero sometimes results in a DEAD stop. It is for this reason that I rarely venture out on the trails and when I do, I try hard to keep a lookout for oncoming sleds. Although tonight being a week night, in that 70 miles, I was passed by two snowmobiles and met only one. Our first two snowmobiles were 1968 Evinrudes and shortly after came some Yamaha's and a Rupp. My Mom and Dad worked side jobs so that we all had our own snowmobile to ride. We would take the snowmobiles on winter picnics which sometimes involved a dozen or more people. We would stop in the middle of no-where land, start a fire and cook steak, hot dogs and drink from the old mitten (the old mitten usually contained a bottle sometimes used for medicinal purposes...i.e. one could drink from the mitten and pull his own teeth or put in his own stitches, if so desired.) Some of these rides were in country where a house could not be found for many many miles and that is where most of the picnics would take place. I feel fortunate my parents worked hard so that I was raised doing the outdoor thing. Be it summer or winter, we played outdoors. This is in all probability the reason I can't tell you about movies and such...and I think that's OK.

It has been cold around here as of late, and I have been a big sissy. I have been riding the trainer and running the elliptical...doing a few indoor bricks. I will get back out on the bike shortly, but in the winter I ride the same route most of the time for some reason, and it gets boring posting a picture of me bundled up along side the fixie. This is an outdoor post.

More Parts

2011-01-15T21:38:00.000-06:00

More parts are arriving for our big tire builds.

Sweeeeet. A lot of options with this fork.

A day on the Ice

2011-01-12T19:51:00.003-06:00

My oldest son had called Tuesday to see if I wanted to go fishing, but plans were made for Wednesday already so I had to decline. At 5:00 AM this morning the plans made changed which in turn left me two options. Go to work as planned OR take a vacation day and spend it with my son and his friend on the ice. IMO, I don't get to spend enough time with him, so when the plans changed I jumped at it. Easy choice...vacation day it was. We caught 7 or 8 Northern and about a dozen keeper pan fish. Although these fish aren't huge, there was a hunger for fish and these fish will stink up the frying pan nicely. Pictured on the right, my son Brian and his friend Al on the left. Thanks guys for the most enjoyable day ! ! !

Edit...notice the patched up left side of the fish house...A little Black Bear wanted in there for some reason this last spring. I had to patch it up temporarily and a better fix will be coming.

I noticed this nest the other day built on a railroad trestle. This is a busy set of tracks. I can't imagine it would be too peaceful. I have no idea who builds a home in such a place.

It doesn't belong to this Ruffed Grouse. They are having a tough year around our area because we have a very thick hard crust on the snow and they like to burrow into the snow to hide from predators. The crust come from an unseasonably rain storm that moved through the area around the New years day mark.

The Bald Eagle builds very large nests, and this was a very large nest that was built, but I doubt it belonged to him either. We have many of the Bald Eagles in our area and I usually don't think to take pictures of them. I have decided I will start taking some though...hopefully better than this one.

On fishing...The end of fishing is not angling, but catching

Thomas Fuller

Big Tire Builds

2011-01-07T18:34:00.001-06:00

Sorry...It has been a while since anything fresh has been on here, so I will give a little update on what's been happening. We spent Christmas to New Years at the cabin which had me skiing and ice fishing. This month I have also been fortunate enough to be called on for the civic duty of Jury Duty.

But enough of that and on to the good stuff. The big tire builds are coming along nicely. The above picture is of some prints Eric has drawn up for the big tire frames.

Above is one of the wheel sets built up by Mike Curiak at Lace Mine 29 with some Surly Larry's mounted on them. Mike is a well known snow biker/XC rider/endurance racer/adventurer and also a very good wheel builder. I encourage you please click on his link and read his resume. It is indeed impressive.

Sorry for the fuzzy pic, but these are some of the tubes coming together and being worked on. Those reading the blog know of CAD, who has worked on some of the pricing/purchasing aspects.

This the main frame fixture. Brandon has been the fixture/machine guru. Those that have followed the blog for a while know of Brandon because he is a member of the Gitchigumi Gear Mashers MS150 team. He also does gravel rides, commuter rides, what we call after work fitness rides and rides a fixed gear for a little fun.

Eric is the designer/welder, and again if you have followed the blog, you have read of him. He is another who has done all the riding listed above plus some. He lives on the hillside of Duluth and for a very long time, what I think made his bicycle commute unique, is he was working the late shift. That means commuting by bicycle winter and summer with the ride home being around the 1:00 AM mark. Anyone care to guess what the roads of Duluth are like at 1AM during a snowstorm...or for that matter, how many impaired drivers are on the road at that time. It didn't seem to bother him though.

These big tire frames will be as unique as this serial number. Not only are they custom built to the individual, but also have some very cool features that are not available on any of the others.

This is another of a Brandon/Eric fabbed fixture and a bottom bracket. There are a lot of things going on right now, so I just touched on a few. I can keep you informed as we go.

This is one of the frames Eric designed and fabricated before the fixturing was made. It is a small sized mountain bike frame, before powder coating of course.

I feel very fortunate to not only work, but also ride with this group of guys. It just doesn't get any better...and that my friends, is no Bull S---!

Totogatic Ski Trail

2010-12-27T21:44:00.001-06:00

Janice and I have the week off from work, so with the sun shining bright and the temperature near plus 20F, I went for a ski this morning at the Totogatic Ski Trail a couple miles north of Minong WI. This is a trail maintained by the Washburn County Forestry Department and if you need to know the trail conditions, it is on their website.

I think they only groom one track so people can use the un-tracked side for snowshoeing, although there were no snowshoe tracks today. I know people have mentioned they had been snowshoeing here and there are signs that say "No Skating," which makes me think the other side is for the snowshoe.

The trail conditions today were excellent.

The last time out the camera battery was dead, so I took them with the cell phone. I did the same again today, but from now on I am going back to using the cheapo camera I have. I didn't pay much for it, which is why I like carrying it on my little outdoor exploits, but it takes better pictures than the phone.

I skied the outer loop here today which in total nears the 12k mark. The A and B loops have some Red Pine plantings along with some Oaks, Poplar and a few pothole swamps consisting of Spruce, Balsam Tamarack and some Tag Alder. The C loop is mostly hardwoods with some good sized hills...up and down. I liked the D loop the best as it crosses a nice sized Tamarack swamp along with a mixture of everything. I think all the trails have some large White Pine and Red Pine, but I took no pictures of them.

Smack in the middle of the trail system at the junction of the B and C trails sits this shelter. It has benches around three sides and is a nice feature to trail system.

Trail D comes alongside a creek for a short distance.

Back on to trail B here with a gentle climb to get back up on the flatter terrain. Mostly Red Pine, Jack Pine, Oak and Poplar with a few swamps mixed in up on the top.

This system has added some trails since I was here last. I couldn't say for sure though because the last ski I did here was a couple years ago in the darkness of night. The outer loop nears the 12k mark with a mixture of everything and as a bonus, it is far enough away from roads, snowmobile trails and such which makes it a very quiet experience.

If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.

First Ski of the Year

2010-12-23T20:26:00.001-06:00

I ashamed to say that today was the first x-country ski of the season. There is not an excuse for waiting this long. We have a very nice snow base and I am willing to bet most all of the trails in our area are in excellent condition. The trail I went on today was the Tomahawk Lake Trail located in and maintained by the Township of Barnes WI. It is about 25 miles from our home, but well worth the trip.

It is free to use, but I think if you are using the trail and can spare a couple bucks, you surely should make use of the donation box at the trail head.

If you notice in this photo, it is not tracked which made wonder if I should use the trail today. After pondering it a bit, I came to the conclusion that they pull the tracker with a snowmobile so my ski tracks should do no harm before they get the tracks set.

I have skied here before, but it has been a couple years, so naturally I took a wrong turn right out of the box. It is a one way trail system, so I back tracked and made the right turn. What started out to be a 7k ski ended up to be an 8.5k, which was a good thing.

The last time I skied here, this warming shelter was surrounded by large trees. Some of the area has been logged, but I knew that before I came out here, because my son had set up the timber sale and so graciously told me before I left the house for the ski.

I took all these pictures with the cell phone, so the quality may be questionable, I will tell you these are some nice trails.

At near 20F with an overcast sky, it was better than sitting in the house...or using the exercise room indoors.

They have a lot of benches along the way...and now that I look at this picture, I should have taken the time to clean the snow from them.

The tracker and the drag sat at the beginning.

When I arrived back to the parking lot, people had come to ice fish Tomahawk lake.

On the way I back home I went by the shoe tree. They don't show up well with the snow on the trees, but there are shoes hanging from the trees. A while back there was only one tree here loaded with shoes when someone complained of it being an environmental issue. Mind you the tree was bordering the road in the middle of a very rural area. Complaints were made and shoes removed. Next, the road is trimmed of brush and trees near the road...and said tree is removed. The people from the area have reclaimed what looks like two trees. OH OH ! ! !

Aerobics: a series of strenuous exercises which help convert fats, sugars, and starches into aches, pains, and cramps.

Bright Night Ride

2010-12-17T05:16:00.002-06:00

I rode for about an hour last night on some deserted roads near the house. Not one car did I see in that hour. Oh, I take that back...I did not see any that were driving but I did see three vehicles parked at the local bar I rode by, but two belonged to the owners. I had changed the rear cog on the fixed gear from a 16 to 17 tooth. It makes a noticeable difference and I liked the change for the road conditions last night. The back roads around here are now covered with a layer of ice with a layer of sugar snow on top of that in some places. In all likely hood, they will stay that way until spring. Good for studded tire riding.

I was out an hour and it was a great ride at +12F or about -11C which comes out to near 262 Kelvin. About global warming, Jimmy Kimmel once said we can lower the temperature dramatically just by switching from Fahrenheit to Celsius...So there ! !

Real Tree Year

2010-12-15T20:51:00.001-06:00

This year will be the first year in a long time that we have had a real Christmas tree. I cannot say I am a fan of the real tree, but as you can see here, it has made some in our household very happy. I will admit that it was fun going out in the middle of a snowstorm with snow building up and the wind a howling, and here we are trying to pick out a tree, but we were together...outside doing something. It was much better than setting in the house.

They pick the trees...I cut'em down.

Here is one of the pride and joy's of my life...and even though she is soon to be 18 years old, she is still in my eyes Daddy's little girl.

I have been doing my riding indoors since the end of last week. First was the the weekend snowstorm and right after the snow moved out, the cold moved in. It has been -22F the last two mornings, and although I can ride in the cold, I have chosen to use the mini exercise area I have made in the basement.

It's all good here and we hope it's all good for you too.

Can't change the weather...Enjoy it ! ! !

2010-12-10T22:33:00.006-06:00

It was probably about three months ago that the front derailleur broke on this road bike. This is the bike I use as an all around beater. I ride it in the rain, when I know the conditions may be rough, on the trainer and I have used it to pull the B.O.B. trailer on bicycling camping trips. It is not a spendy ride, but it suits me just fine. I put a lot of miles on this unit. As with a lot of things in life, it need not be expensive or top of the line to enjoy. There is an old saying down in Tennessee, well probably, I know it's in Texas, that goes something like this "Fool me once"... It doesn't matter how or if you voted, there is some humor right there. OK, I digress...what I meant to say is "Sometimes the best things in life are free." The bicycle can cost $15 at a garage sale, or be a $5000 fancy ass carbon thing, or free. It doesn't matter as long we are enjoying the ride. I enjoy this ride. We are expecting a storm moving in early Saturday morning. They are saying 10 to 16 inches of snow along with some hefty winds bringing the wind chills down to -35F for Saturday and Sunday. Early next week they say the temps will be near -20F with out the wind. bbrrrr

It was for that reason I needed to get this bike fixed and back on trainer. I changed out the derailleur and put the trainer tire on, so for me it will back to the inside brick tomorrow. Elliptical and bicycle trainer.

So even though the weather may be different the next few days, we will still get outside. We are going to cut a Christmas tree, do our outside chores, carry in wood to keep the fire stoked, but I will ride indoors.

So back to another cliche, someone once said "Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of."

Driving on the Ice? ?

2010-12-05T17:15:00.000-06:00

We were in Rice Lake WI today when we bumped into one of my cousins who had said he was ice fishing Saturday night. I asked him how much ice was on the lake and he said 4" but then he added, "There was a guy driving out there." When we left town I thought we would take a ride down around the lake and sure enough, he hadn't drown yet. So one may ask "Just how smart is this guy?" I think it would be safe to say most people would say "Not very." Now let's add one more detail and lets keep in mind that this photo was taken with the zoom. He still isn't that far from shore, maybe 3 to 4 blocks. So rather than sled his stuff out that 3 or 4 blocks, he drove, but that's not the kicker. The kicker is...I think he had TWO kids with him! ! ! Now just how smart, and apathetic one might add, is this guy?

Back on

2010-12-03T23:20:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving week is no time to be riding a bicycle in the woods of northern Wisconsin during daylight hours, as this is the Whitetail gun season. So, I take a couple weeks off the bike around Thanksgiving every year. I blame it on the hunting season, but that is a lame excuse. There is no reason I could not ride at night these two weeks, PLUS...the second week the hunters are fewer and also a little more sane, as it is the muzzle loader season the second week rather than large gangs with rifles like the first week. People with the "Brown is down" attitude worry me. I do have to say though, this was one of the more enjoyable deer seasons I have experienced in a long time. I did not shoot a deer, but I say it was more enjoyable because there were fewer hunters around our home. Suffice to say, that is because there are fewer deer in our area this year. If it stayed this way, I would be a happy camper.

Now, on to tonight's ride.

Tonight was the first time on the bike in two weeks. It sure felt good to be back riding! I put in an hour on snow/ice covered roads at +15F and it was EXCELLENT! ! ! For those that live in this area, better get out there and enjoy it, because it will be spring before you know it. You snooze, you loose.

Tonight is also the first time I have used the coast side of the flip flop hub on the fixie???not a fixie tonight I guess. It took me nearly two years of riding this bike to find this out, but I now know the coast side works, so it will be back to the fixed side tomorrow. Call me trendy or whatever, most likely whatever, but I just like the fixed gear.

Fat Tire Build

2010-11-19T19:13:00.001-06:00

I know there are some fat tire snow bike fans that occassionally stop by the blog, so I am going to throw this out here. It is looking like a group of us are going to build up some fat tire bikes. These will most likely be of the non-offset version. We do have the ability to make adaptations to some of the issues that arise. We will most likely be building everything from a single speed to who knows what. We have had discussions of single speeds to multi speed hubs from Alfine to Rohloff with chain OR belt drive and on to the 1 x 9 up to the full 3 x 10. For me, a straight single speed will be out of the question. I intend on riding this ride some in the summer as well winter. We all know everyone has different ideas that work for them and may not work for the next person...i.e. saddles. So, please do not be shy as any ideas from handlebars and gearing to geometry will be greatly appreaciated.

Any advice out there?
Anything that turns your wheel?

We would like to hear it ! ! !

"The Ultimate Battle"

2010-11-17T18:23:00.003-06:00

This is a video I stole from You Tube that should serve as a reminder to us all of just how fragile life is. This very fine young man at an age of 24 is now gravely ill. He is the son of a co-worker. This co-worker and I have been friends for about 30 years as he and I share the same duties at work. The immense struggles they have endured and how they cope should be an example we can all learn from. I have witnessed this the last 3 years and I cannot begin to put into words to describe how wonderful this family really is. I think some of us take life for granted sometimes and when something like this comes along, it is a sober reminder of how life is. We sometimes let little things bother us a little more than we should, when if we just take a second to ponder, most things really aren't that big of a deal. This young man enjoyed baseball and lived his life around it. So get out do the things you enjoy, for you and I and the people we surround ourselves with could be gone in the next minute.

Edit: RIP in Adam

Heart Attack Snow

2010-11-13T22:42:00.000-06:00

We awoke this morning to a small layer of snow. It continued to snow all day and is still snowing yet tonight. We have had about 6 to 8 inches of wet heavy heart attack snow. It is the type of snow good for making snowmen.

With the snow coming down, I worked on the fixed gear in the garage. I changed out the chain and rear cog, put the studded tires on, mounted the lights and put a rack on it.

The tires are directional and I mounted the tire for the fixed side. It has a flip flop hub, but I have never used the coast side. I am going to try it out sometime.

I went for a little ride today...in the truck.

These are some of the gravel roads I ride in the summer. This is Road 4 which in December will become a snowmobile trail.

I snapped the snow photos for the benefit of some that don't get snow.

A snowbike is in my future. These are some of the trails I will be riding.

I had planned on posting this much earlier, but we were out of power for a few hours today. The heavy snow brought down trees and power lines.

So after the power come back on, the DSL decided to take a break. The net was down something like 5 or 6 hours this evening.

These little trees came in naturally after they logged it a few years ago. It doesn't look like it in this picture, but this stand of little Jackpine is about a mile square of some very thick and tough walking when there is no snow. A sane person would not want to attempt walking it on a day like today.

All of these pictures are just a short distance south of our home.

Another Night Ride

2010-11-10T20:40:00.001-06:00

I asked the guys at work what I could do to get some more time from the headlight. Eric, who built the light, and Brandon both thought a 20 watt bulb rather that the 30 that was being used would be the way to go. Brandon was nice enough to donate one to the cause, so I put it to the test on another night ride and I am pleased to say I got a solid 90 minutes from the headlight. Now I need to learn how to dress again...too warm tonight.

Day into Night

2010-11-08T20:49:00.001-06:00

Daylight savings ends so that means back to riding in the dark during the week. I had an hour and fifteen minutes of daylight when I got home from work and I chose to sit on the deer stand. After sitting on the stand, it was on to the bike for an hour. I need to work on my lighting. I have a very good home grown bright light for 45-60 minutes. I need to find a way to stretch that out. Stats for tonight...saw 1 little deer on the stand and 5 while riding the bike...and two cars.

Lost in the Forest

2010-11-03T21:35:00.000-05:00

It was during the recent wedding weekend that I headed north of Rhinelander WI to ride the Smokin Spoke mountain bike trail system in the Tesomas Forest. It was worth the drive up there as the trails were in great shape and some features that made this a lot of fun. I don't know how many miles are in this system, but I rode for over 3 hours and I am sure I didn't hit any trails more than once.

I am sure some of the trails I was on were not on this map located at the starting parking lot off Crystal Lake Road. Study this map well because the trails were not well marked and it didn't help that the first area I went through was being logged.

The trails were in excellent condition and as you can see in the above picture they were recently raked.

Some rocks and some hills.

Nothing too technical, just single track fun for the most part.

I came across two of these. They did have a bypass if one desires to take the easy way. I came up to this one kind of fast, took the go around, looked it over, back tracked and went for it...twice. It was a fun little feature.

There was some area on what I think was the west end of the trails that wasn't raked yet. Rocks and other inconveniences hide very well in this amount of leaves.

The trails pass through some very nice northern Wisco scenery.

As I said at the beginning...bring a map or allow extra time to find your way back. I snapped a picture of the map at the parking before I went on the ride. It helped, but I am sure many miles of trails are not on that map, as I was lost in the forest for sure. Well, maybe not lost...just didn't know exactly were I was. Besides, as I look at the above picture I conclude, there are not many places nicer than this to be lost.

Auto Trouble

2010-10-30T08:50:00.000-05:00

We were heading over to ride the CAMBA trails, but the Ranger didn't want to cooperate. The motor was running like crap, so I decided we had better turn around. I checked it over on the side of the road and couldn't find anything obvious, so we headed back home. We stopped at Solon Springs Parts City and purchased and installed new plugs and wires...and...all is good now, but no CAMBA :-( When a person lives and enjoys the country like we do, we depend on our fossil fuel burning machines. That means we are leaving a print, and I am fine with that.

Half a Day

2010-10-22T21:46:00.000-05:00

We had another unseasonably warm day with temps around 60 and a SSW wind coming in at 15mph. They say it could the last warm day for quite some time to come...Sooo, it was a 1/2 day of vacation for me even though somecadhad the whole day off, but the bonus for me was I got in almost 50 miles of gravel riding this afternoon.

Most of the roads could not have been better for riding.

A lone Oak holding on.

We had 23 degrees this morning, but these little daisy like flowers are doing well. Aster of some kind , maybe??

It was warm enough to be stripped down to just shorts and shirt, but I kept on my unzipped vest, (and shirt) just because I didn't want to carry it. Thats saying something for us up here in northern woods of Wisconsin this late in October.

I felt like I was cheating the bike gods today with the weather nice, road conditions perfect and being able to play hooky to take advantage.

The Bearskin

2010-10-19T20:42:00.003-05:00

I took the Kona for a ride on the Bearskin Trail. I have always wanted to ride this trail in the fall as it traverses through low land and has a lot of Tamarack. The Tamarack puts on its color show after the hardwoods have dropped their leaves. I was about a week too late for the ideal colors, but it was still a nice ride.

Back to the Bearskin. It runs 18.2 miles one way from the tourist town of Minocqua WI south to near the junction of Highway's K and 51. This is a bridge at the beginning in Minocqua.

There is a lot of water near this trail.

It is very well marked not only as to the legal use of the trail, but also has mileage markers and informational signs relating to the history and natural resources of the area.

Guessing, I would say at about the halfway point, is a very nice picnic area with four picnic tables, a hand pump well and bathrooms.

Above is a picture of another rest stop. This also is signed of the significance and a nice place to watch the wildlife...on and off the trail.

As usual I don't have much to say...just loading up some pictures.

Pictures are nice to look at anyway.

There are several of these wooden bridges on the Bearskin with this one being the longest at 746 feet. All of the bridges are signed with a name and the length.

More water.

More water here also, but it takes some manpower to see it. This is near the south end of the trail with a parking lot and bathrooms nearby. This is a very nice trail to ride. I rode it both ways this day plus a little extra for a total of 39 miles. We have to take advantage of the little time we have left before the snow blankets the area.

Congratulations Bobbi Jo & Michael ! ! ! !

2010-10-17T16:36:00.000-05:00

It has been busy the last few days as we officially gained a daughter...although we had already claimed her quite a while ago. Our son has married his long time girlfriend and we are indeed very proud of both. We are very lucky indeed.

It wasn't even that cold

2010-10-12T20:54:00.000-05:00

When I get outside and do something, whether it be biking of any kind, trail running, cutting firewood or just going for a walk, it does wonders for my over-all outlook of things. Although I work indoors, I still spend a lot of my off time outdoors. This winter I am going to try to increase that outdoor time. Reminds me of a recent story I heard at the Heck of the North this year. A gentlemen there was explaining about one of the local guys having some possible frostbite trouble at last years Arrowhead 135. Now, we heard this standing in the wilderness of Northern MN and it went something like this. "Last year he had problems with his feet or I should say his toes. I don't know why though. It only got down to 21 below that night. I mean it wasn't even that cold." Now he was really serious about this 21 below not being "that" cold and I know they have had temperatures around the negative 40 mark during that event, but this makes me smile every time I think of him telling this. Only in the Northwoods.

2010-10-09T09:47:00.000-05:00

Brandon, who is a friend of mine, and I knocked out a 34+ mile ride last night after work. 31 of these miles were on gravel. These are file photos because although I brought the camera along, I forgot it was even in my pocket until I sat in the car to go home and it poked me in the pocket. That tells me that I had a great time with good company and it was fun to have company, as almost all of my riding is alone.

The pictures of the roads are the same roads we were on yesterday.

File photo of the Gitchigumi Gear Mashers from this years MS150. It was Brandon on the right and myself on the left that rode yesterday.

I rode the mountain bike and it was Brandon's first ride on his new 29er, and his first time riding gravel. It would have been nice to get a photo of that, but I was too interested in the riding to be remembering a camera. He has been a roadie in the past, but I think he enjoyed the gravel last night.

Some of the roads yesterday were freshly graded, but still rode very well with the wide mountain tires. As I said before, these are file photos today. I loaded them up because I like photos in a blog. I enjoy checking out photos on other blogs, so I try to put them on this one. Oh, and one last thing...It was a Gooooood time ! !

Rut Roads

2010-10-07T20:44:00.000-05:00

We have been fortunate to get some unseasonably warm weather in here in northern Wisconsin. I have not been able to play hookie at work this week, but have been riding the short time available in the evening.

Some nice rut road trail riding this evening.

Last night the trails I rode had some brush in spots, but tonight the only thing I had to watch for was the sticks hiding under the leaves. Some of the hardwoods have dropped a lot of their leaves.

We had a lot of rain in September. Some of these roads show results of past rain, although this one has been in bad shape for years.

I ended with just under 19 miles of two rut trails on the mountain bike with just a couple of little gravel connectors. Gooooood time ! ! !

Riding the trails

2010-10-06T20:00:00.000-05:00

Lately, it has been the fixed gear that had been getting all the attention, but this afternoon when I went to the bike coral, it was the mountain bike. I am sure the Anthem was saying "pick me, pick me," so being the softie I am, off we went.

The Anthem may have wished it hadn't said anything, as some of the back trails I rode tonight were growing in with brush. We picked our way through and every now and then we could hear the brush threatening to break something. But in the end, we all got along and came home in one piece.

There was what I would call a medium wind today which has resulted in some of the leaves giving up the fight...kissing the earth one might say.

I had a nice 11+ mile ride of nothing but rut trails. If time would have permitted, I would have ridden many more miles than that. This type of riding...trails, gravel and ect. is just flat out fun.

Watch'in the Heck

2010-10-03T20:04:00.000-05:00

I have been riding the fixed gear again after being off of it most of the summer. For about a year it was my main ride, as I think I rode it more than any of the others, both winter and summer. I like it in the winter because there are of course no derailleur's to get salted up. It has felt good to be back riding it.

This weekend we took a drive up along Lake Superior to near Two Harbors and then headed north to watch the half-way stop of the "Heck of the North." It was a lot of fun talking with some of the bikers and the people working the event. One of the folks we talked to was Rich's wife. Rich is one of the Duluth Road Cyclist bloggers who logs a lot of miles. His wife, who I never got her name, is very pleasant to talk to, as was everybody there. It seems when one is around fellow cyclist, the company is always good.

Good job CAD and Doug, as they finished the Heck and it sounded as if they had a heck of a good time. This is an example of what I was saying in the above paragraph above about cyclist being good people. These are friends who stuck with each other through a flat tire, some cramps and whatever else the course threw at them. Goooood job, as there is something to be said for finishing an event such as this. It is something I think neither man will ever forget.

2010-09-29T20:05:00.000-05:00

Early in the year I started trail running. I think I started out too hard and haven't run since that first week in the spring. I started again this last week, but at a much easier pace. It's fun for me, if I take it easy.

On another note, we need to send our best wishes to one of our friends who has been a guest to this blog and is riding the "Heck of the North" bicycle race this weekend. This is a 100 mile endurance run and he is riding with some very fine company indeed. I encourage you click on here or on Heck of the North to follow this ride. I would say good luck, but CAD is good enough so it isn't luck he needs...BEST WISHES CAD ! ! !

2010-09-22T20:35:00.001-05:00

Getting that time of the year again. Time to clean the chimney, cover the wood pile, straighten out the garage, change the gear lube in the lower unit of the outboards, cover the septic with straw and all the other little odds and ends to winterize things. Snow and ice could be around these parts in a little over a month. But there is one thing I'm not winterizing yet...Studs on the fixed gear. I think that can wait for a while yet.

2010 Chequamegon

2010-09-20T05:15:00.002-05:00

I was lucky enough to be drawn for the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival this year and although I suffered this year it was still fun. Congratulations goes out to Brian Matter for winning this year. I think he had won twice before, this being his third. Also Darrin Braun had a good race. Both Brian and Darrin are very good riders, but more importantly, they are both very nice people. We did not get a chance to see Darrin or his fiancee Lynn, but I did see Brian cheering people on.

KISS showed up and took third in the Tandem category. Very impressive indeed.

Lining up.

The start was in Hayward WI.

This was the destination. The big top Chequamegon at the Telemark Ski Hill near Cable WI.

I finished, but suffered just the same. This year I noticed the beautiful scenery the course takes, as I knew early on, this was the last of these events for me, so enjoy it. I didn't feel it for the first 10 miles, then felt good up till 1.5 miles left...then cramps, big time cramps. I missed two charity rides this weekend and one of these I had rode 5 times in the past. I am thinking my time in the future can be better spent riding for a cure of breast cancer or whatever. The charity rides will be the ones for me. Oh, and they aren't as taxing on this old guy.

Gravel and Wind

2010-09-14T05:16:00.000-05:00

I rode the cross bike on a mostly gravel 25 mile ride. Wind, did someone say wind?...no but I did. Lots of wind on this one, and I knew before I left the house what I was in for.

The roads were a little wet, but not bad. I think there were white caps on some of the puddles though.

I saw three cars in 25 miles and that number could increase, as hunting season is here. I did see a couple wheelers also. I had a hard time seeing them, as they were in full camo. Less traffic is just one of the benefits of riding the gravel.

I now know that I could be in better shape. Wind is a good judge of that.

Riding the gravel equals a Goooood Time ! ! !

Guaranteed.