Calming sensation.

This week was pretty rough, with a lot of things on my plate I was wound pretty tight about everything... until my ride on Saturday.

Last week was pretty lame. I had so much homework to do I didn't see the outside of the house except to drive to school. I didn't have time to run any errands or anything, it was just homework all day every day. Then Friday, my usual bike day, I had a bunch of errands to run so I ran them and then it got too late and cold, plus I was tired. On the plus side I got my Dillngers from 45Nrth ordered, they are supposed to be coming in stock by November so I should see them before the snow flies. I also picked up the front version of the Dave's Mud Shovel from PDW and a pair of wind resistant insulated gloves from Pearl Izumi, they are just big enough that I could put some liner gloves into them, so I suspect they should work out pretty well all in all. I also stopped in at Midwest Mountaineering as I had not been there in quite some time. I picked up a nice Shak City Roller jersey from Ibex. Let me just say, if I have not done so already, that I love wool clothing. Ibex in particular because of their lifetime warranty and the fact that most of their goods are manufactured in the United States. So after that I caught the movie Sinister, it was pretty decent. The only problem with all this was that at the end of the day I was stressing out about everything again.

Ann and I had a Halloween party to attend on Saturday night and I knew with my homework load that Sunday would be mostly homework so I had to get my ride in on Saturday. I decided to go explore the river bottoms between Lyndale and 494. I got there and saw another gent loading his fat bike up as I was getting mine ready. There was no wind, hardly any clouds, and the birds were chirping; It was almost perfect. I hit the trail and immediately the stress of the week started just melting away. It was so much fun to be out on the trail, it was not particularly challenging or anything like that, but something about not seeing anyone and the weather being so amazing just made the experience very relaxing. I got to see a bunch of things I had never seen before and there were some man made obstacles that I took on that were pretty fun. Mostly some cool log piles and rolling lengthwise down a log and things of that nature I also had a blast on the small rolling hills and picking up speed going around the corners and kicking up all the fallen leaves. I hit the Cedar bridge and it was a little chilly at this point but I was having so much fun I kept going. I went over the pedestrian bridge at Cedar and then continued on the trail to 494 at which point I crossed over to the island and rode around on it again and then on the way back left the island and connected back with the trail and then headed back to the car. On a side note, the Dave's Mud Shovel worked out perfectly. There was some pretty sandy sections and it kept almost all the sand off my water bottle and quite a bit of it off my legs as well. It also worked well for the couple of mud puddles I went through, I never had to worry about striking it with my pedal either. If you have been looking for a good front fender for your fat bike, I highly suggest it.

By the time it was all said and done I was a happy camper. I stopped on the way home and got a nice big hot cup of coffee and sat on the porch and drank it with Ann's cat. It was a really good ending to a really bull shit week.

I have also decided two things. First is that I am going to try to update this blog at least once a week, most likely on Sundays or Mondays. Secondly, I need to do a century on the Cross Check before the snow comes down, I have not done a century yet this year so I gotta get on it. (A century is a 100 mile bike ride)

That is all I have for this week, hopefully this next week treats me a little better.

Lazyness

It was a good week but low on activity.

I had no Thursday class this week so I went out on a nice four hour fat bike exploration ride. I rode around the river trail between 55 and Cedar, it was super fun. I did a lot of off route exploring and finally got on that island underneath 494. The mud was dried and cracking it looked pretty neat.

So I rode all the way down to the Cedar bridge and I saw a lot of cool birds: turkeys, a blue heron, great egrets, and a bald eagle. I was also admiring the handy work of the beavers.

On the way back I decided to really go off road and I went through the woods heading back towards the Sibley house. That was a mistake, I came to a spot where I could no longer bike, hell I could hardly walk. There was a bunch of tall grass getting caught my in derailler and chain, wrapping around my handlebars and it took me down a few times. The last time I fell on a sharp root that nearly impaled me. From that point on I took it on foot. I ended up hiking about a quarter mile in an hour. It was thick and hard to navigate. Once I passed the Mendota bridge I knew I had to be close, then out of no where the woods appeared again and I was able to navigate my way back to the trail. By the time I was all done my right leg was all bruised and scrapped up. It is bright yellow right now as I sit and write this.

Totally worth it...

Birthday Weekend

It has been a fun week.

Thursday night I got a call from Thad asking if I wanted to go on a ride and that I should bring beer. I said sure. So I hurried home and got changed and got my bike ready to ride, threw it in the car and took off for Thad's place. I got there and assembled my stuff quick and we were off to try to catch the train to meet up with some other fellas from the shop. We missed the first train by about 10 seconds so we waited for the next train and got off at American Blvd. We left the train station heading for the dry decent into the river valley area. It was fun riding it in the dark as I had never done so before. Night riding always makes me a little on edge because my biggest fear is running into some sketchy person or people at night. This was all fun though, cruising at a good speed and then hitting a patch of sand and not being ready for it really tested the fat bike and it did super well. We got to our destination and started a fire and cracked some beers and had a good chat. I got to know a couple people that work within the company but I don't work with directly. Also we burned some magnesium because it makes fun colors and burns really bright. All in all it was super fun, I learned that I need more options for cold weather gear and that riding and drinking on an empty stomach is not a great idea either, but I somehow knew that already but chose to ignore it.

Saturday was Death Rider's Fat Bike Adventure Ride II. The weather leading up to Saturday was very vague and made it seem like it was going to rain all day. It was overcast but slightly warm, perfect. I got everything together and loaded up the car. I grabbed some snacks and what not for the gas station on the way out, including bananas because I am convinced they can save any ride. I parked near the Sibley house because I thought the hill up to the meeting place would be a good warm up before the ride. As I was riding to the meet up spot my front derailleur stopped shifting, awesome just what I was hoping to have happen. I spent some time trying to get it to work and eventually just said "Screw it!" The chain was stuck in the small ring which I figured was not so bad because I was expecting a lot of mud, sand, and hills. We gathered up and Josh said a few things and then we hit the trail. We took a really back route way to the river bottoms and then zipped in and out of some trees and through some pretty thick mud. Then we literally climbed out of a hole and a bunch of other crazy stuff. I hung in there for about an hour and a half before I just decided this was not what I had in mind, I was not really struggling. It was more of the fact that we were having a pretty massive accordion effect. I was expecting it to be gnarly but it ended up being more hiking than biking, at least for me. A couple guys got a little upset, I wasn't upset at all. It was advertised a little differently than what it was, but Josh spent a lot of time prepping that ride and I think if you actually read his blog you should have expected it to be slightly brutal. Next year I'll be better prepared.

However all was not lost. Pete from Fat Tire MN was at the ride and so I finally got to meet him. When he broke off from the adventure ride I decided to go with him. We rode the river bottoms a little bit with a couple other guys that ended up dropping off too and we all went for a little ride. We all parted ways and I ended up going back to my car and heading home. It had started raining and I was already cold and soaked from some creeks we were riding through. So I headed home and had some pizza with Ann and then fell asleep while watching Louie. When I got up we went out to eat and then to my friend's house, where Ann had organized a surprise birthday party for me. She got me good.

This has been a pretty damn good weekend. I'm pretty lucky to have the friends I do and to be able to do all these things I get to do. Getting older is not a high priority on my list but I am starting to realize that a lot of it has to do with just not giving a crap. Just because I'm getting older doesn't mean I can't keep riding. It doesn't mean anything, it is an age and I will only ever be as "old" as I let myself be.

First impressions of my mukluk.

So I've had the Mukluk for a little over a week and have put a good 100+ miles on it now.

It handles single track pretty well even though I have found out I don't handle it that great, that is okay though, I am excited to learn and not almost kill myself on log bridges. Going over something thin with fat tires is not as easy as I thought it would be. It handles Elm Creek Park really well though, the long rolling hilly sections are its playground. It is good at eating up the log piles and rock gardens too. All in all it is fun as heck.

Now for the meat and potatoes. I was out just cruising with the fat bike along the Minnehaha creek bed when I noticed it was completely dry. So I veered to the right and went in it. I was not equiped for a long ride so I rode around slow and checked it out then ended up heading home. The next day however I spent 6 hours in the saddle just exploring the creek bed, areas around the MRT, Pike Island, and the actual river itself. WHAT A BLAST! I cannot say in words how happy this bike has made me. I have found my calling, I am pretty sure I was made to fat bike.

I went out again last night with a co-worker from Freewheel and we swallowed up 23 miles of river bottoms and then went to Matt's for a Juicy Lucy and some beers. Delicious post ride meal. I am writing this over my morning coffee and I am about to head out to where Lyndale ends by the river and explore out there for a few hours. All in all it has been a great week for biking.

Thanks for the photo Thad.