Ride Indicator

 This is my ride indicator.  If I know where my ride will take me, this gives me fair notice where it may get difficult...or be a breeze.  I must confess.  I try to start the ride as much as possible into the wind and glide on home.  This ride had me starting out 3 miles into the teeth, then a little sideways action and some behind the back action and some more sideways.  It's all good! 

 I have been spending time on these wheels as of late.  It's not fancy, but I like it.

It was windy enough to drop some limbs.

Lets get outdoors and have some FUN!!

Great Ride

 Sunday I ventured over to Hayward, WI to ride with fellow blogger Biking Barb (linked here) and her husband Mike. We rode 18 plus miles, had 585ft of elevation gain, averaged 12.2 with a ride time of 1 hour 30 minutes, and I had a max of 26.3mph.  But all the stats are BS.  It was the company that made it a great ride.  I had a wonderful time.  We leisurely rode along through mostly low traffic roads alongside of anything from farms to lakes.  The lakes we went by that I am aware of were Williams, Murray, Adina, Petty, Spring, Lake Hayward and many other little pothole lakes.  I learned some about Alaska as they lived there for I think about 36 years and I look forward to learning more.  I took no pictures on the ride, but we are hoping to get together for some gravel riding. I therefore explored some gravel today, but the roads I was on today may need to dry up a little.  They are ride-able, but one needs to get the shoes dirty now and again.  

I saw this little Porcupine today.  

I got close to him in as you can see in the first picture, but after threatening me with his quills, he scurried away and up the tree. Although I wasn't going to hurt him, or eat him, he didn't want anything to do with me.

Water over Colton Dam.

Lets get outside and have some Fun!!

Fixed Gear

 

My family and others have ask "Why ride the fixed gear."  Seeing how my winter riding has come to close...I hope...I thought I would explain my reason for riding the fixed gear.   I will just touch a little bit of how they work and then let the Godfather of bicycles (rest his soul) tell you more below.  The fixed gear has a simple sprocket that is threaded on to the hub of the rear wheel.  It does not have the ability to coast.  I reason it to a tricycle. The tricycle we had as kids, the front wheel was turned by the pedals directly connected to the wheel.  In the fixed gear case, if the rear wheel is turning the pedals are also turning because of the sprocket in the rear does not have the ability to free wheel.  Coast that is.  So no coasting.   My number one personal reason is, I enjoy the simpleness of it.  It's not to be cool or hipster.  It's also a convenience.  In the winter there are not derailleurs to get rusted up and such.  My friend Eric, which by way now has a blog linked here, introduced me to the fixed gear and I haven't looked back.  I like riding it winter and summer. 

The threaded sprocket

The following from Sheldon Brown's site.

I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer?
We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!

--Henri Desgrange, L'Équipe article of 1902

What is a Fixed-Gear Bicycle, and Why Would You Want One?

he oldest and simplest type of bicycle is the "fixed-gear" bicycle. This is a single-speed bike without a freewheel: that is, whenever the bike is in motion, the pedals will go around. You cannot coast on a fixed-gear machine.

any enthusiastic cyclists ride such bicycles by choice, at least part of the time. Why would anybody do that? It is not easy to put into words. There is an almost mystical connection between a fixed-gear cyclist and bicycle: it feels like an extension of your body to a greater extent than does a freewheel equipped machine. If you are an enthusiastic, vigorous cyclist, you really should give it a try.
There are many reasons, including: Fun, Fitness, Form, Feel & 'Ficciency!

Fixed for Fun

t takes a bit of practice to become comfortable on a fixed gear. Most cyclists, trying it for the first time, will automatically try to coast once the bike gets up to a certain speed. The bike will not allow this, and it is disconcerting. It takes a couple of weeks of regular riding to unlearn the impulse to coast, and become at ease on a fixed gear.
It is worth going through this learning experience, however, because once you do so, you will discover a new joy in cycling. When you ride a fixed gear, you feel a closer communion with your bike and with the road. There is a purity and simplicity to the fixed-gear bicycle that can be quite seductive. Somehow, once you get past the unfamiliarity, it is just more fun than riding a bike with gears and a freewheel! 

Fixed for Fitness and Form

iding a fixed gear on the road is excellent exercise. When you need to climb, you don't need to think about when to change gears, because you don't have that option. Instead, you know that you must just stand up and pedal, even though the gear is too high for maximum climbing efficiency. This makes you stronger.
If you have the option of gearing down and taking a hill at a slow pace, it is easy to yield to the temptation. When you ride a fixed gear, the need to push hard to get up the hills forces you to ride at a higher intensity than you otherwise might. Really steep hills may make you get off and walk, but the hills you are able to climb, you will climb substantially faster than you would on a geared bicycle.
When you descend, you can't coast, but the gear is too low. This forces you to pedal at a faster cadence than you would choose on a multi-speed bicycle. High-cadence pedaling improves the suppleness of your legs. High rpm's force you to learn to pedal in a smooth manner -- if you don't, you will bounce up and down in the saddle.
Most cyclists coast far too much. Riding a fixed-gear bike will break this pernicious habit. Coasting breaks up your rhythm and allows your legs to stiffen up. Keeping your legs in motion keeps the muscles supple, and promotes good circulation.

Fixed for Feel

fixed gear gives you a very direct feel for traction conditions on slippery surfaces. This makes a fixed gear particularly suitable for riding in rainy or icy conditions.
This same feel for traction will help you learn exactly how hard you can apply your front brake without quite lifting the rear off the ground. Most fixed-gear riders only use a front brake--a rear brake is quite unnecessary on a fixed-gear machine.
Because you are more solidly connected to the bike, you have better control of it in bumpy conditions or in difficult corners.
On any road bike, the rider must learn to un-weight the saddle to ride over bumps. Most cyclists coast to do this. A fixed-gear rider will learn to "post" over bumps without breaking stride.

Fixed for (e)Fficiency

fixed-gear bike is considerably lighter than a multi-speed bike of comparable quality, due to the absence of the rear brake, derailers, shift levers, and extra sprockets. A fixed-gear bike also has a substantially shorter chain.

A properly set-up fixed gear has a perfectly straight chainline. This, plus the absence of derailer pulleys, makes a real improvement in the drive-train efficiency, an improvement you can feel.

Back to rlove2bike.  I am sure there are people who agree or disagree (like anything else) with these simple bicycles...so be it.

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!

PS...Sure was nice talking to these folks last night.  I look forward to getting out for a ride with them.

Spring Fever

 Spring is just around the corner...I hope.  It was 65 Sunday which is way too nice to stay indoors.

 The lovely Mrs to the rescue.  Guess what was still on the kitchen table while I was miles down the road.

 A south facing sand bank catching some rays.

 We still have a lot of snow.  A friend of mine on facebook keeps commenting on how anxious he for the golf season to start.  It may be a while yet as evidenced below.

 Behind that Oak tree is the number one green.

 One of our local town fire departments.

 It was windy on this ride and I planned it so that the ride home would be with the wind at my back.  Good plan!! There are a lot of these puddles on the roads around here as the snow melts. 

 An opening to one of the local lakes.

 I did not have any snow covered roads on this ride, which was a good thing as  I swapped out the studded tires on the fixed gear back to the cross tires. I am still riding the fixed because of all the sand and crud left on the roads.  On some of the hills, corners and at intersections our local township road crews put down sand when the roads are snow covered to provide traction. A good rain will help clean them up.

Thanks for reading

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!

Jerry was a fine man!!

 This a landmark of my hometown.  For those that do not know, it is a fire tower.  During times when the forest fire danger is present, these towers are manned to keep a look out for smoke.  Through triangulation with other towers they pin point where they spot smoke.  They then know where to dispatch personnel.  I do not know about now, but they used to have a guest book there.  I was and probably still am the youngest visitor on record.  I was to the top of the tower, which is just short of 100ft tall, when I was about 1 year old.  My uncle Jerry who passed away this last Saturday was responsible for the first time my name appeared in that book.  We say goodbye to him today.  He was a great person.  I will not go into the many stories, some humorous, but I will tell you this.  Everything from the pet monkey our family had to the Raven he had trained to fly in, land on him and eat from his hand, to the carrier pigeons he used, the pet skunk and many more unusal critters he had around...which is all really cool...but it is something he said many years ago that profoundly changed my life to the better.  I feel lucky that we have that together and I was able to convey that to him.  Thanks to Uncle Jerry!!

RIP Uncle Jerry.

Another great day!!

 I was too nice today to not get outside. The temp was right around +55F with the sun shining and the snow melting.

 Leaving tracks where I could reminded me of my youth.  We didn't ride in the winter back then and I remember every spring my friends and I getting the bikes out and leaving tracks.

 I stopped for a snack on top of this little hill.  With the leaves gone I could count 5 lakes from this hill. 

 This is the main street of my hometown...Gordon, WI.  Not very busy today. :-)

 This is one of the hangouts we had as children.  This is the St.Croix River.  A short distance upstream from here the Eau Claire River dumps in.  Gordon originated because of these two rivers meeting meant it was an ideal place for a trading post.

 Highway Y heading west of town.

Highway Y is a dead end Douglas County Highway, although there are turnoffs.  It runs along the St.Croix river and the St.Croix Flowage.  It ends 7 miles out at (get ready for it) 7 Mile Dam.

Thanks for reading

Let's get outdoors and have some fun!!!

Incentive

 I have been out riding the fixed gear...still my winter ride.  Even with the recent dumping of snow we received, about 12" of heavy wet stuff, the roads are already clearing up nicely.  They still have a lot of sand on them and some slush spots, so the fixed gear it is.

 The above is the incentive for riding outdoors.  I haven't bought energy bars for a long time.  These are the replacements.  They are the CAD's famous home brew energy bars, aka peanut butter balls.  I may have gotten that wrong...peanut butter balls by the famous CAD may be more accurate.  If I don't ride outdoors, I go to the dreaded workout room and these energy beauties are only used for the outdoor stuff.

 The temperature read 47.6 when I left the house, but that did not stop the sled heads from getting out and enjoying the new snow.  That is because we have had a very mild winter thus far and they have been chomping at the bit to get snowmobiling.  On good days during the winter this bar has hundreds of snowmobiles.  I heard a rumor a couple weeks ago they had 4 all year.  This snow will make the owners of this establishment happy also. 

 It was great riding today. 

 I am enjoying being able to ride these quiet rolling roads during the early afternoon.  Nice!!

 The home base is only a about a mile through this trail.

It's 3 miles this way...I will take the road.

Thanks for reading!!

and

Lets get outdoors and have some fun!!!

The Final Chapter

By Eric Peterson

We turned off the main road and into the abyss of dark with the lights of civilization slowly disappearing behind us.  I had heard about this section of the race from others and although I was apprehensive I was also very excited.  Countless steep climbs and white knuckled descents sounded exactly like my kind of terrain.  The nature of this section of trail made the darkness seem rather vast and my world quite small since all you can see is the small area of snow illuminated by your headlamp.

My legs felt fresh and strong still but my intentions were to hold them back since I didn’t yet know what to expect and the ridiculousness of this event popped into my head repeatedly.  Am I really riding 135 miles on snow?  Am I really going to ride for over 24 hours?  People are settling into bed right now and we are just getting started on the second half of this craziness.  I smiled to myself and couldn’t help but laugh a little bit.  There is nowhere else I’d rather be right now.

I found this whole section of trail to not only be quite easy but also my favorite.  We walked a lot of the steep up hills and blasted the down hills.  To me every ascent was a rite of passage to the screaming exhilaration that followed over and over again.  Call me sick, but I love the limited visibility at high speeds combined with the unpredictability of the snowmobile packed trail.  So on this up and down circus went for hours and hours without incident until Mike and Ken realized that we should be coming up on The Teepee of Despair shortly.  We would crest a hill and they would say that ‘it should be just over the next hill’….  Just to find that when we crested that next hill it wasn’t there, so it must be ‘just over the next hill.’  After several hours of this build up and let down desperation started to set in and I became worried that somehow we had missed a turn.  Ken’s power at this point was quickly depleting and we started stopping more frequently.  I was in front at this point and I noticed that they had stopped behind me, so I did the same, got some food, and looked around as usual. 

I had grown accustomed to seeing reflective signage thru the woods at this point and when I looked ahead I saw what I thought was another sign off in the distance, but when I turned my head it continued to glow.  It took me a while to process what was happening since it was 2:30 AM but finally I realized that it must be the checkpoint.  I yelled back to Ken and Mike, hopped on the bike, and blasted up to the teepee.  The people at the checkpoint rang a cowbell as we approached which reminded me of my downhill ski racing days.  It’s amazing how much motivation a simple cowbell can give a person.  We climbed into the teepee and each had three cups of hot cocoa which was like drinking liquid amazingness! 

We hung out for quite a while and I felt that fire inside me start to grow again.  My legs became anxious to push hard once more and it was time to go.  We mounted our steeds and headed off again into the darkness.  I was seemingly growing stronger Mike and Ken were growing tired so we decided that I would ride up front which I was happy to do.  We crested wakemup hill and knew we had it in the bag.  There was plenty more trail left but it was mostly flat swampland.  Easy pickings.  We hammered our way thru the woods and Ken got worse and worse.  He begged us to leave him but we wouldn’t do it.  We hung together all night and it just wouldn’t be right to leave him at this point.  After several hours of this and with our pace slowing to a crawl he finally got us to just go.  We were only six miles out and he was convinced that he would finish, but he just needed some time. 

By now I was jacked on adrenaline knowing that I was going to finish which made my legs feel like they could lift a car.  I told Mike to just hang on behind me and off we went.  The sky was starting to lighten and we were flying.  We whipped thru the swampland like we were being chased by a pack of angry wolves and when we crossed the last road I told Mike that I wanted to sprint the finish.  I jumped up a few gears and off I went with no idea how much further I had to go.  It didn’t matter.  I cranked thru the soft snow pushing faster and faster.  I pushed so hard on my pedals that I thought they would break off, and then finally it appeared.  The finish.  I cruised thru to the most amazing feeling ever.  After I checked in and got some food, Dad picked me up and we headed to the cabin where I took a sauna and went to sleep (18 or so hours which was broken up only by dinner)…..

Part 4

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

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

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

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

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

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,

RL

 

Helping out

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

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!!