Bad Decision Bicyclist

Ragnarökin'

2012-04-15T20:22:15Z

This one looked seriously iffy going into it. Long range forecasts were talking about hail and tornadoes and fire and brimstone.

So at 5am the morning of, I'm trying to find a local tv station to get the local low down on the weather. Nothing but infomercials.   Including one for spinning.

"You can do it in the privacy and convenience of your own home!"

I just drove all the way to Red Wing, MN to parade my spandex-clad ass around south eastern MN.

"Miss Kansas uses spinning to maintain a healthy lifestyle!"

A bunch of ugly dudes with beards use gravel road racing as an excuse for excessive beer consumption.

"Act now and get the 'Tour of Ireland' DVD!"

I gotta admit, replace the falling down castles with falling down barns and it's almost the 'rök.

The irony of it all was just too much.

Prognosis on the weather was looking good. Looked like pretty much the worst of anything would hold off until later that afternoon. A good excuse to keep on the gas and not get caught out in bad weather.

We started in a brisk mist. One where you can't really guess which way the weather is going to go. As such, many were packing a rain jacket or some such as a contingency plan.

Start went as per usual. Cold legs into a hard climb kept the pack together for the first couple miles. Later on though, my impressions of the Fargo as a poor gravel road racing rig were reinforced. It was just really tough to find the right pack to hang on to. Usually, my approach to this event is to find a pack I can barely hang on to and stick it out until the first checkpoint. This year, I kind of bounced from group to group.

And got passed a lot.

I mean, A LOT.

I guessed that some of the faster guys had missed a turn someplace and were now hammering their way back up to the front. Looks like I was right, but man- it's demoralizing to get passed by the same dudes twice.

While no speed demon, the Fargo is still a great bike to really enjoy this type of riding. Sitting upright and rolling on big rubber let me enjoy the scenery a bit more. And those fat tires with disc brakes just made the descents crazy, crazy fun.

But of all the weather scenarios that could have played out- the one I was unprepared for came true. A beautiful day of blue skies and sunshine. I'll be nursing a case of sunburn for a few days.

Finished just 7 minutes later than last year. But at 12.5mph average as opposed to 13.1 on last year's longer course. Things went pretty well during the event and training leading up to it, so I'm gonna go ahead and say it's the slower bike.

But now I'm in a quandary about the Almanzo. 100 or 162? I know I can knock out the 162, but with only minutes to spare before the cutoff last year, can I do it this year on a slower bike? Or will the lower gearing and better traction help me through some of the big time sinks last year? Should I just dust of the Jake? Should I just buy a proper friggin' CX bike rather than race weird crap?

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion!

These things need to come with a warning...

2012-04-14T02:00:26Z

Goddamn Fargo.

So I got some new tires and a rack that I wanted to test out before the Ragnarok. I figured I'd ride into work.

Well, remember that railroad grade? I figured I'd check out the section north of Arnheim Road.

Guess which part I hard to walk?

Still, some of the sections with tracks were still rideable.

But I was happy to see the start of the developed trail.

Why I love the UP. You'd never see this sign unless you went down a dead end trail. Arnheim Falls is approximately 36-48" in height. :)

Another New Bike(I can quit anytime!)

2012-04-11T16:11:25Z

Got the Fargo done this weekend.

Fresh and unmolested, ready to head out yesterday morning:

Stopping for glamor shots:

First impressions, this thing does not ride at all like I expected. I guess I was sort of expecting it to be a lightweight, flexy frame. This thing is a fucking tank. It's meant to be loaded up for touring.

Also, trekking chainrings and a MTB cassette are not gravel road racing appropriate. The jumps between gears are just way too big. Really need a road casette. Going with 8 speed just exacerbates the problem. Plus those bar cons way out there on the ends of those woodchippers are a bit of a reach.

What this bike loves though is playing "Where Does That Go?"

Yes, there's a trail there. And I rode down it. Couldn't quite make it back up though. :D

It's also the best two tracking bike I've ridden yet. I could ride this stuff all day.

Riding some Ottawa Slickrock on Silver Mountain.

The summit:

The silver mine for which the mountain is named:

Took a turn onto the north country trail. Which is technically not allowed. But in all the years I've hiked it, I've never seen anybody on it. And many portions are overgrown to the point of being near impossible to follow. And I've got a whole list of rationalizations for biking where I'm not supposed to if you want to hear them....

But brushfires had recently scorched the Baraga Plains. So it wasn't long before I was humping the bike over all kinds of deadfall leaving me covered in small cuts and ash. Karma's a bitch.

And then I discovered my barcons had come loose.

Did I mention this was going to be an easy ~75 mile gravel loop just to shake down the bike? Damn Fargo wanting to go down every little two track...

At this point I was out of food and water and had to high tail it to the nearest town to restock.

8 hours in and I still had a solid 20 miles left to get home. But I still couldn't stop checking out new trails. Found this old railroad grade that spans many miles.

Stuff like this keeps the ATVs off it, so I had the trail to myself.

Finally back home. Other than the loose shifters, no issues after some serious abuse.

No idea how many miles I did, but after 10 hours- I hurt far more this morning than I did after a paved 150 miler I did a few weeks ago.

Gonna have fun with that bike this summer.

How To Pick Your Battles

2012-04-11T15:42:54Z

What's that famous quote? "The battle is won before it's fought?"
As well you know by now, Iove the drama of throwing myself headlong into some crazy race I have absolutely no chance of winning.

But you know, dammit. I like trophies too.

And if there's one thing I've learned from racing cars- there's a podium for every man who wants one. Whether it be Midwest Production Regional Rally Championship or 35 and over fatbike racer, rest assured- there's a class out there with a trophy just waiting for somebody to show up and claim.

First up was the Red Jacket Cyclotron in Calumet. Hefty snowstorms kept the MQT crew at bay keeping the trophy:competitor ratio pretty high. But I still legitimately beat a few guys for first in my class.

Next up was the Midwest Snowbike Championships. This was another hammerfest on XC ski trails. We actually had a rotating pace line going for about half of it. I'm that much closer to putting drop bars on the pugs.

I did hold on for 3rd place in my class.

It was an emotional moment on the podium for all.

(all above images courtesy of Adam Griffis)

And one last fat bike victory for the season this past weekend at the "First Annual Shitshow". Whether it was my stunning batman costume, my inspiring beer consumption performance, or the story involving my teammate, the purchase of contraceptive devices, and my teammate- I'm not sure, but I did get the coolest prize out of them all:

Convenient carrying case included!

2012 'Not Snowing Season' Schedule

2012-03-22T15:53:11Z

Another lazy boring summer lined up for this year.

April
14: Ragnarok 105
21: Ronde Von Skandia (T)
28-29: Yukon J. Malamute Memorial Backpacking Trip

May
3-13: One Lap
19: Royal 162
25-27: Ride The Keweenaw

June
16: Keweenaw Chain Drive (S)
22-24:North Manitou Island Backpacking Trip
29-30: Marquette Bike Jam(F,B)

July
7: Miner's Revenge (F,B)
18-22: Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium

August
1-9: Downstate Bike Tour, Home to Ludington and back. (T)
11: Ore To Shore (S? F? B?)
18: Great Deer Chase (S)

September
2: Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival (F,B)
8: Tour Da Woods (S? F?)
29: Heck of the North (S)

T: Tentative, S: Single Speed, F: Fat Bike, B:Bikepacking

I took a year or two off from "serious" mountain bike racing once I had met my initial goals of completing them without dying in the process. Now that I've conquered bigger and tougher events, I like going back to them just for the fun and camaraderie. Probably race the fatbike a few times to increase the fun factor and do a couple self supported bikepacking expeditions to a few races just for the extra challenge.

Doing a few backpacking trips as well. The Yukon Memorial trip is a short weekend I'd always take my malamute out for as soon as the snow melted enough to do so. Destination is cool little waterfall down a canyon that has a mine shaft drilled into the side. After Yukon died, I spread his ashes out there. Now I bring a bottle of "Canadian Hunter" and proceed to get melancholy.

Unless any of my cohorts come up with a better idea, I'll probably once again do the tour down through Wisconsin to catch the ferry over for my family's annual summer party. Most likely won't do the full loop again, but just take the ferry both ways.

Also looking forward to getting the kayak out for some crazy trips this summer. Some friends and I have a number of them planned including numerous overnight Keweenaw expeditions and a return to the Huron Islands.

And for sure, there will be lots of all day mountain bike or gravel road rides thrown in for good measure.

Somwhere in there, I might mow my lawn too.

Go West, Young Man! (Then come back when yer' broke.)

2012-03-14T16:06:12Z

So yeah, as a midwest skier- you always hear about "out west". Like it's some magical place where the skiing is always awesome and the microbrews always potent.

"I'm going out west next week!", somebody would say.

And we'd all nod in solemn agreement as if this lucky individual got himself a free pass to Valhalla minus that pesky funeral pyre rite of passage.

So of course I had to go too and see this nirvana for myself.

Now, I could slide real easy into hardcore dirtbag rant about how expensive and commericial and developed everything is out there and how I get three season ski passes here for what 4 days of skiing costs there and how the skiing there is just too easy and totally handed to you on a silver platter. Man.

But I won't.

Because I totally drank of the ice cold schooner of PBR at the Alta-Peruvian Bar, partook in the gourmet meals, bought $20 hamburger lunches, drank the finest Utah microbrews, and rested my head on the pillow of my tastefully appointed slope side room.

It truly is a wondrous paradise.

More pics here.

But alas, there's only so long a diehard midwest skier can stomach the idea of $20 hamburger lunches and $5 beers before he decides he's had enough of that shit and bails. Also, four days of teleskiing is murder on your quads.

Don't know if I'll ever make a trip back out there just to ski at a resort again. With all the great skiing I have in the UP- it's a tough sell. But I'm definitely going back out there for some backcountry. All kinds of sweet lines everywhere you look for as far as the eye can see. For somebody who skis all day just to find a hill with more than 200' of vertical that doesn't need trimming, it very much is the promised land.

The Snowbike World Championships Apologizes....

2012-03-07T17:02:18Z

...for being too hard?

Seriously?

I shit you not, they actually mailed us all letters explaining how sorry they were for not grooming the course and making us all push our bikes.

Really?!

OF COURSE IT SUCKED! THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT AWESOME! MAKE IT SUCK EVEN MORE NEXT YEAR!

If I wanted to do something easy, I'd stay inside and ride a trainer. Or just watch TV.

Of course, the problem is- everybody wants to pound this shiny new square peg (fat bikes) into a long standing round hole (UP winters). We get a lot of snow. No matter how fat your tires, riding a snow bike can suck. Sometimes, maybe, just maybe- skis are a better choice.

Difficult rides are where the best stories come from. I've had many, many idyllic rides. But I remember the ones that were really hard the most. And finishing them is something I'm far more proud of than any race result.   Besides, it's not like any of us were staring down frostbite or packs of hungry wolves or anything. We had to walk some. Deal with it.

Apology accepted, I guess.

Although if that race was hard enough to justify an apology- I guess my hopes of some epic killer death race up here probably won't pan out.

Easily one my top 10 days ever.

2012-02-06T16:41:19Z

Just finished what is easily in the running for my best day of skiing ever.

I've literally been planning this thing for years. We lucked out in that an access road is plowed this winter, cutting several miles off the trip. It was possible to complete this in about 9 hours instead of requiring an overnight.

And it was even better than I expected, despite spring-like conditions.

What? No, Utah is next week.

And as much as that costs it better be completely mindblowing when I've got this in my backyard:

Oh yeah, we also had another fatbike race on Saturday. This one was on some trails I'm very familiar with at MTU. That, combined with the big ring on my Pugs (something a lot of fatbikes don't have) let me beat quite a few people who normally finish far ahead of me. Sadly though, this was just an all out hammerfest, completely redlined the entire duration of the race, which kind of gets away from what I like about fatbiking. But the organizers agree that throwing in some singletrack next year sounds like a good idea, so this race has some potential.

I'm The 47th Fastest Fat Bike Racer In the Entire World!!!1!

2012-01-31T19:20:03Z

That's what it means when I come in 47th at the Noquemanon Snowbike World Championships, right?

So yeah, it's a good thing my folks came into town to say hi, otherwise I never would have made it past L'Anse. Apparently they got pounded with nearly 18" of snow the night before.

What? No, I would not have skipped a bike race to go skiing!

I, um.... don't like to drive in the snow. Yeah, that's it.

But hey, it was cool to say hi to all the Marquette peeps and check out all the snowbikes. Lots of stock Mukluks and Pugsleys, but also a lot of cool, customized rides. Even amongst the horribly uncool folks like like me without a totally custom setup, it's nearly impossible to find two bikes alike (check out my red cables, yo!)

But hey, it's race start time- everybody line up!

Now ok, I'll admit it. I'm not really very good at this snowbiking thing. I'm totally squirrelly. I spin out a lot. I go shooting across the trail in weird directions without warning. I like to crash a lot. And I'm slow. Real slow.

So I took a nice conservative spot towards the back and didn't dive into the melee at the start. Which is a good thing. Because we immediately started making sharp right turns before getting to a stretch of ungroomed soft snow. Where we all had to jump off our bikes and start running....

...and running...

...and running...

...I guess it's a bike race in that, yes- I am pushing my bicycle. Nobody ever said anything about riding it.

There was one stretch that wasn't so bad, but man- nearly the entire first half of the course was basically unrideable. But hey, it was beautiful day, and we got to hikeabike past some stuff that looked like it might be good fun to come back and ski.

But then, finally- the course went from unrideable to perfectly groomed, nearly entirely downhill racetrack, packed in even more by the 50-odd people in front of me.

Holy man. It's a good thing those ski trails are wide, I was going faster than I'd go on my mountain bike in the summer. I went flying past maybe 6 people in the last 7k and finished just behind a 7th for 47th out of 67 people. And I thought I'd never use the big ring on my Pugs...

Hung out at the finish hoping to score a new set of tires in the raffle, but no dice. Had a couple hours of daylight to kill on the way back home, so stopped off to check out a potential route into some new ski terrain we've been eyeing up and get my favorite kind of fatbiking in- exploring new territory while taking in the natural beauty of the UP.

Making sense of the essential futility of life.

2012-01-24T16:37:17Z

First fatbike race, coming up this weekend!

And that's pretty much how I feel about.

The concept of a contest of speed without irony on a fatbike is, well, rather comical. But they sure are fun to ride in groups and it beats sitting inside. So that's why I do it.

But it does not beat good skiing though. Introduced a few friends to the secret Twin Lakes stash. They made it look easy.

But I think I crossed some kind of skiing threshold this weekend. This whole "season" I've been amped up like some kind of crack addict looking for a fix.

Dawn Patrol!
Scrape every last inch of powder off the local hill!
Backcountry tours!
XC skiing like it's a methadone hit!
SKI SKI SKI!
Ski 'til you DIE!

Saturday night, I barely had the energy left to drink a beer before hitting the sack at 9pm. And then getting up and skiing all day Sunday.

Well, the monkey has apparently been fed.

4-8" of heavy fresh snow last night and I went home and shoveled my roof like a motherfucking adult (well, OK- I forgot my kneepads).

Another 4-8" of lighter powder overnight and I wasn't racing out the door at 5am to dodge trees in the dark.

I raced out the door at 6am instead to get to work early so I can leave early (lifts don't start until 3pm anyway...).

Progress, not perfection.

Tele 'til yer smelly!

2012-01-13T11:09:13Z

So last weekend, after avalanche training we went out to check out our secret backcountry stash.

Turned out to be in pretty good shape with several inches of fluff on top of a very solid base.

Hills were climbed.

Turns were had.

Refreshments were served.

One of the nice things about the aforementioned secret backcountry stash is it's proximity to the Parkview Inn in Twin Lakes. So we stopped off just in case the previous refreshments didn't take.

So we're hanging out, doing the bar thing, talking about how awesome it would be to have one's own personal Tucker Sno Cat. Some waitress looks over at us, and immediately starts heading our direction, talking about how boring the day has been and she should maybe just sit at the bar and have a beer. She gets within a couple feet of us, ready to saddle up at the bar and then just turns around and leaves. Tele 'til yer smelly.

At least the bartender said we were "civilized".

Area Skier

2012-01-10T14:29:49Z

I'M THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED SKIER ON THE COVER OF THE DAILY MINING GAZETTE!(*)

(*)How many G.N.A.R. points do I get for this, anyway? I hope enough to cover my awesome yard sale moments after that first picture.

Getting Fatter!

2012-01-05T14:44:07Z

Hola, amigos. What's up? I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya, but things have been pretty crazy around Rancho BDB.

See, after my crash, the combination of lack of daylight and shitty weather was keeping me from getting out and doing much at all. The cabin fever set in bad. Worst case I've ever had in years. On a trip downstate just before thanksgiving, I actually paid $80 for a new cassette for the Hoss just so I didn't miss an opportunity to ride Hanson Hills. I was positively climbing the walls. I even booked a trip out to Utah for Feb. just so I had an opportunity to get out of the house to look forward to.

Late November and early December continued the trend of crappy weather conditions. Never really made a complete transition from fall to winter. I was able to feed the monkey a bit by getting out on skate skis for some XC action, but honestly- I'm just not that excited about skate skiing anymore. Not really a whole lot of new things to explore or adventures to be had. It's always the same trails, all the time. But damn, it's a hell of a workout. And the hills on the tech trails can be pretty fun when trying to tele-turn a pair of skate skis.

But without any crazy weekend adventures, the cabin fever continued unabated....

Until a lot of my friends started buying fat bikes. I've always wanted a fat bike. Stuff like this and this and this do absolutely nothing to discourage me. But the $1600 price tag always did.

Well, after it became readily apparent we wouldn't have any good backcountry skiing until the end of December at best, I just decided to hell with it. I would get a fatbike, no matter the cost.

Conveniently, a friend was upgrading to an even fatter bike and had a barely used one for sale. Still the most expensive bike I've ever purchased, but much less than $1600.

And let me tell you, if you ride bikes off pavement at all and have any taste for adventure riding- go buy one NOW. Don't make excuses, rationalizations, or what have you. It's a real game changer for winter exploration. Stuff that has been out of reach during the winter is now accessible. And plus they're just silly fun to ride no matter what.

In the past few weeks we've been riding the bandit snowmobile trails around Calumet, the XC skiing and snowmobile trails of the Porcupine Mountains, doing 30 mile treks along the edges of the Huron Mountains and even riding up (mostly) frozen rivers in Duluth.

Crazy, crazy fun. I almost don't even care that the backcountry skiing has been almost non existent as of late.

How I Added Four Inches To My Waistline In Just Two Days!

2011-10-31T15:35:40Z

With LSPR behind me, I was finally getting back into my fitness groove. Backcountry skiing is tough, in that it requires good lungs and the ability to bounce off things well, so going into the season in good shape is really important.

Anyway, I had last week all planned out, hit the gym every morning, get some mountain biking in, maybe even ride into work, and generally get some quality rest and eat well. So Tuesday night, I head out to get a quick little mountain bike ride in- nothing major, just enough to spin the legs up.

Anyway, I'm ripping down the Villi Maki trail out at Churning Rapids when I think to myself, "You know self, you could lose traction real easy on all these leaves on the ground."

"Good point!", I respond as I apply the brakes.

"Kkkkkksssshhhhh......", goes the front tire as it locks up on the slippery leaves, just before tucking in and sending me flying over the bars.

I think this crash is deserving of extra points as I managed to maintain enough velocity to continue sliding *uphill* for several feet. Sadly though, my joyride eventually finished and my bike saw fit to attack me from behind, just in case I hadn't had enough. After the leaves settled, I was in one of those moments when the pain starts to build up and you quietly wish you could maybe just black out for a little while.

Sadly, such was not the case. Although I only took minor abrasions, I knew things were Not Good At All and limped my way out of the woods. As a volunteer fire fighter with training in first aid, I knew what the next steps I had to take were. I immediately loaded me and my bike in my car and rushed off to Karvakko's for a sixer of Bell's "Two Hearted Ale". You know, for medicinal purposes....

Things are kind of fuzzy after that, but I was confronted with a new problem the next day. None of my pants fit. At all. My left love handle had swelled up to 4 times it's usual size, adding 4 inches to my waistline. I also couldn't really walk very quickly, and any transition between sitting, standing, or lying down made me want to pass out. So I stayed at home, and avoided having to deal with that whole pants thing.

The next day, I managed to squeeze my increasingly black and blue torso into some ski pants, but the elastic waistband was proving rather uncomfortable. Friday though, I had my true epiphany....

OVERALLS!

So I purchased a pair on my way into work, and it's become one of those life altering moments. I may never wear pants with a waistband again! So comfortable! So free! It's like bib shorts, but a million times better.

Eventually, through a careful regimen of Bell's products, I've been able to nurse myself along and finally get back out on the bike this weekend for 25 miles of two-tracking and bushwhacking. Of course, now my entire left torso is black and blue and my waist is still 4" larger than usual. But with my trusty new overalls and continued consumption of Bell's "Best Brown Ale", I should be back to normal soon. Or at least get the other love handle up to a similar size.

LSPR 2011

2011-10-18T09:54:02Z

This year was tough.

A couple of key organizers decided to take a long deserved break and the rest of us had to step up to take up the slack. This had me doing a lot more organizer type things in addition to my regular rallymaster duties. Mostly this involved calling people on the phone and asking them for things. I hate sales. But what are you gonna do?

Not ride your bike much and get incredibly stressed out it seems.

Plus, I've kind of had a bad attitude about the sport of rally as of late. It seems I hear no end of bitching every time I try to include a cool two track stage or we don't finish in time for people to get to the bar. Add in the spiraling cost of competition that's driven away many of my friends and I was convinced that the sport was largely being overtaken by a bunch of dandies.

Usually, my duties start to wind down a bit the week before the rally, and if I've done my job right, I can start to enjoy the event. Not so this year. I immediately had to switch into the Chief of Communications hat and recruit about 25 qualified radio operators, set up a net control station, and figure out how to run a net for a rally. My buddy Dave saved my ass in countless ways on this one- getting me the local ham contacts, setting us up in the CCRAA radio shack for net control and generally bringing a lot of expertise and equipment that I am sorely lacking in.

So there I am, Friday morning of the rally, already way behind on sleep and I just want to get through it as quickly as possible so I can go up to Copper Harbor, ride my bike, and get my new kayak. And then never ever organize another rally again.

We kind of got tossed into the fire on net control, but we were figuring it out. Casual comments from previous net control operators got us moving in the correct direction and horrendous weather conditions out on the stages were keeping spectator and civilian problems at bay.

And then, finally- on the last stage of the night, we had or first "problem". Car zero came back and said we should just skip it. It sounded like the stage was passable, but very very muddy. Unable to come up with a suitable plan to navigate the cars back to service, I agreed to transit the stage. Car zero came back and said if I'm going to send them down it, I might as well let them compete. There may have been some egging on by a long time competitor working the finish control too. Go ahead and run it...

I think I can safely use the word "epic" here. 6 cars off, nearly a quarter of the remaining field. Stories of one particular driver who was giving a full on, 11/10ths driving performance when his co-driver looked over and told him he was doing upwards of 25mph. And comments like "Sorry, no car count- our log sheets have disintegrated in the rain." It took a while, but we got everybody out of the woods safely. I was back at the hotel and in bed by 4am, but couldn't sleep. I was stoked! Finally, rally was cool again. It was an epic battle of will against the elements! Forget winning, just getting through those conditions was an accomplishment worth celebrating. Here was rally's chance to prove it's mettle to me...

We certainly had our challenges the next day, including a stuck transmitter that forced us to transit a stage and do an emergency frequency change, but we had mastered the basic routine of getting a stage up and running. We even made it down to the banquet to catch the last few scraps of food on the buffet (not that we need it, Dave's wife was feeding us pretty well that whole weekend).

During the awards ceremony, rally made me proud. Everybody agreed it was a horrendous, difficult night. But the attitude was, "that's what makes this cool". I didn't hear a single complaint about running that last stage. Spent the night drinking beer, shaking hands, thanking the people on the ground that made net control so much easier for us, and talking about "next year!".

Kind of an exciting weekend for staring at this for nearly 40 hours straight:

Imagine the smell of dead mice and dCon to fully appreciate it. :)

What everybody else got to see:
http://www.comicozzie.com/gallery2/v/2011/LSPR/
http://worldrallysport.com/node/8335

Now about the AMC Eagle SX/4 rally project I've been thinking of....