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.
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