Exploring town

Wednesday I went out for a quick ride after work, just to get out and do something.  I took the Yampa, rode the mountain bay trail, then when that hit the end I just stayed on the tracks.  Kind of fun to just see where I ended up for an hour of riding.

Ended up near a fishing spot on Duck Creek, guys were catching some perch, then I also went around and rode back up the sidewalk on Velp.  No sense on riding on the street without lights at dusk.

Duck Creek should be good for riding this winter, we will see but I think there is enough snowmobile traffic to groom it and it should be fun to see where I can get to.

Progress on the frame bag

Started actually putting some needle/thread to the fabric last night.  Got the side panels cut to size, then got the two zipper strips prepped for the drive side of the bag.

I need to work out my little zipper covers and how I'll do those, I think I need to rethink how I have these set up and may have to redo some of the sewing I did last night.  The biggest thing I did was get these worked out and got thread tension set properly for my heavier "outdoor" thread on Kris' new machine.  I am more used to my Mom's old machine so there is a lot I have to figure out.

Saturday's Ride - Kewaunee Cluster Huck

Just catching up on posts - I rode a big 30+ person group ride in Kewaunee, WI to learn the trails over there.  They called it the Cluster Huck.  It was a great time.

We started off on the trails at Ryan Park, they were the ones I did the fatbike race on and were in great shape.  I like those trails more and more, and they are more challenging than what is around Green Bay.  Short loop though, only 3-4mi I think.

The second loop was maybe called riverview? park?  It was trails around some moto trails, they were good but very tight and did not flow well.  I'm told if I ride there more I'll like it more but I didn't leave feeling like I was excited to head back there again.

Third was the trails at the ski hill - these were real fun with lots of uphill and then also lots of fun downhill sections.  Flow was very good to me on these trails and lots of fun.  Not so much crazy tight stuff.

We rode from trail to trail for something around 16mi total.  I rode them all on the Yampa, it was great as usual.  I really like the bike a lot and it's nice and fast.  I however am NOT nice and fast, I was pretty slow and tired for a lot of the day compared to where I'd like to be.  Not so much on any technical skills this time but my gas tank is very small currently and my legs get tired fast.  I'm a long way off from the endurance I had back in June when I did the Lutsen 99er.

Baird after work

Got a chance to ride tonight at Baird after work, went well.  I brought the Scalpel.  It felt weird after riding the yampa so much lately.  Squishy, comfortable, and light.  It's the same weight basically as the yampa believe it or not but it rides so different. 

I felt pretty awful - not sure if I'm getting sick or what, but I felt super flat.  I didn't make it up a lot of the hills I normally get up fine.  Actually I can't remember the last time I didn't make it up a hill there.  I think there were 2-3 I walked on tonight.  Blasting the downhills is way more fun on the scalpel though.  It's so fun and fast.  Part of my issue could be the 1x10 setup with the 32x36, it was just a hair high for the amount of work I've been doing lately on the bike, I felt like I was just a hair low on cadence for smooth climbing.  Time to work my legs out more, that is probably a better solution than changing gearing or switching back to 2x.

I'm 36.

Yesterday I turned 36.  Normal day for the most part, went to work then decided on a half day.  I would've really loved to just head home and do "nothing" for the rest of the day but with a 0,2, and 4 year old at home that does not really happen ever.  Second best was to head out on the fatty for a ride even though the weather was not so good.

It was in the low 50's and wet, not actively raining but it's been a wet week.  Due to that I decided on Reforestation Camp as those trails dry out the best.  Overall really they weren't awful, just a lot of puddles here and there.  Not so muddy as much as just dirty.  In other words, the bike ran fine, did not accumulate mud as much as just got wet with a fine layer of sand.  When I'd stop riding there would be a puddle under it from water dripping off.  Lots of leaves down as well which mean lots of slippery situations with leaves + slick + acorns.  The acorns were interesting, I could hear them popping under my tires the whole ride pretty much.

I'm real excited to get the bike out in snow.  Having not ridden in snow on a fatbike before it should be a lot of fun, I am curious what to expect from available traction, handling, etc.  I know when the trails are packed it should be a super fun, smooth, fast ride.  When they're not, it may just be a lot of work.  I'm hoping the 5" tires I've got will help a ton with ability to float and run low pressures as needed.  I'm still learning what works well on the singletrack and I can say somewhere between 8-10 seems ideal for the knards and my style.  Lower seems too floppy? and higher seems too bouncy.

It was fun to get out in the afternoon even if the ride wasn't great from a speed or fun standpoint.  The leaves are still pretty even when it's wet and the truth is biking is a great chance for me to get some time on my own to clear my head.

After the ride, went home, had my birthday meal of pizza and a great ice cream cake that Kris made.  She is awesome, I can't say that enough.

Fat Bike Birkie here I come

I signed up for the fat bike birkie today.  It's March 7th and 47k.  Starts at Telemark I think, goes to OO, then turns around and goes back.

I'm excited to hit the birkie trail on the fattie.  Having done the birkie a couple times a long time ago I think it'll be fun to be around the area in the winter.  Bike people are rad and it should be a great time. 

Great weekend in Duluth

So with little man being about 10 weeks old now the two older kids have had a long time with not much besides being around the house.  Kris hasn't gotten much of a break either.  I figured I'd solve that by taking the two older kids up to Duluth to visit my parents for the weekend.  That meant driving about 6hrs to/from Duluth with them for a quick weekend trip.

I did that Friday night, got in about 10pm.  It was a long, tiring drive with two little ones asking if we're there yet and needing snacks every 2 minutes.  Saturday was fun.  The kids woke up very early, woke Grandpa and Grandma up, got some quick breakfast, and checked out the tree fort.  It's looking pretty good, Grandpa has been hard at work.  He was working at Bentleyville both Sat and Sun from 8-4 so he took off in the morning.  Grandma was around, then she had a haircut.  That left the kids and I for a morning of playing at the lake, playing outside, going to the tree fort again.  Very busy morning for them and they were tired for sure by the time Grandma came back for lunch.

After lunch, I got to leave the kids with Grandma and do a bit of mountain biking.  Finally in all my trips to Duluth I had great weather for a ride.  I decided on going to Brewer Hill and Piedmont, neither I'd ridden before.  I think I've tried to ride there at least 10x but have gotten rained out every single time.

I loved the trails, they were super fun and nice and challenging.  I had brought the fatbike so while it's fun I quickly wished I'd have brought the scalpel instead.  Brewer Hill was cool but there were a lot of spots where suspension would've been very appreciated.  Piedmont was actually better for me, maybe the trails are just more ridden in, but there were a lot more places I could get flow on the bike and roll through/over stuff easily.  Very fun crushing along the trails a bit and really beautiful views and leaves.

After the mtb trails I went down to canal park and rode the fatty a bit on the beach of Park Point.  I had fun doing that, my first real time riding on anything except singletrack on the fatty.  A bit of a taste of what to expect for winter I suppose.  It was fun riding but after already running the trails up the hill I didn't go too long, I think I did just under 9 miles all said and done.  Riding the beach is pretty calming, beautiful, etc.  I have to say though going back I should've done more at Brewer or Piedmont rather than done the beach, it was more fun on the trails.

After I went to Fitgers and filled a growler and that was about it.  Sunday we visited great grandma and then grabbed lunch, then headed home.  Fun weekend but I was pretty spent when I got home.

All of these pics are from my new iphone and uploaded via instagram, pretty impressed with the phone/camera so far.

Another flat on the fatty

Got out for what I called a "therapy" ride yesterday, rode from downtown GB to Baird Creek, did a loop and back.  I ended up as I was on the east side flatting my rear tire again on the Yampa.  Sucked.

I'm not sure what the issue is yet, whether it's the hole I got in the WEMS race just resurfacing again, or if it's a new hole.  Either way, flats suck and I may be a bit spoiled from not having to deal with tubes on the scalpel for a long time.  I got my spare tube in after not being able to tell where the hole was, pumped up and rolled the rest of the trail and back.  The trails are in great shape, really fun except for the weeds and stuff that rip your arms up.

I did a couple segments faster than I ever have, even on the scalpel.  I think I'm learning to adapt to the yampa and use all the grip, that is nice.

After the ride, I headed home, did dinner and went to bed.  It felt good to have gotten out.  A great chance to simply tune out everything else and get some time to destress myself.