Anniversary Weekend

5 years!

I took off a couple of days of work so we could get out of town. The project at work isn't going as well as hoped, so it wouldn't be anything too crazy. Just a trip up to the North Shore/Twin Ports Area without the kids to try and relax and spend some time together.

Friday started with a quick MTB ride in town. Nothing too special, just fun to not be racing to get home and help get the kids up.

2112 early in the morning

We had a little shopping to do and then got up to Duluth a little later than planned. We still got fed and relaxing in time to wake up early Saturday to head up to hike the high point of MN... Eagle Mountain!

After practically a 3 hour drive we made it to the trail head. What we thought was going to be fairly tame was actually the most rugged 7 miles of hiking that we've ever done. Nothing extreme, just not too many steps that you didn't have to pay attention to. Past rocks, roots, and moose poop we made it up to the top! The actual top is in the middle of the woods so there isn't any views... but the overlooks just before the marker were pretty amazing. 2nd high point in the books!

The map... they didn't have any hard copies, so this actually helped!

Fresh moose poop! Tons of dried stuff, but this was pretty recently dropped off.

Pristine lakeside views on one section of trail

The top in all of its underwhelming glory!

The view from the top. Just birds and the gnats buzzing in your ears...

On the way back to Duluth we stopped off at Palisade Head Park. Awesome views, but ridiculously narrow road heading up... at least it was short so it wasn't too nervewracking...

View looking north from Palisade Head

On Sunday we got up a little less early (but still early) and went past Gooseberry Falls to bike on the Gitchi-Gami State Trail. We clicked off ten miles of fairly windy and hilly bike trail!

A little more walking around the 'hood in Duluth and then over to Sis and Bro-in-law's house for some Game of Thrones action and a very active and relaxing trip was pretty much over!

I do love Duluth/the North Shore!

Duluth 1.0

Now that my in-laws have a house up in Duluth, we'll be making more trips up to visit family and just generally get away (since it'll be free outside of gas). One thing I am going to make a point to do is bring my mountain bike every possible trip up there.

So far I have hit Hawk Ridge and 1/3 of Lester only... if I'm going to use the Traverse as much as possible I'll have to build in a bit more time to my rides (especially since everything is new, so slower).

Takeaways... Different trails are fun! Red Wing's trails do stand up when taken alone... but factor in the sheer quantity of different trails and the long term Traverse and I can see why Duluth is going to be a destination for mountain bikers!

Next trip up? Either try and get all of Lester under my belt or head to Hartley

Another great SPH weekend!

Got in a little riding and got Graham out on some trails (along with some yard work, and a trip to the zoo among other things). Saturday turned out to be a pretty much perfect day to do just about anything.

Woke up Saturday morning at 5 to get in a couple of laps before a big day of mulch work, accurately assuming that we'd be working into the kids' naps so wouldn't have a great window for riding. I headed out to the garage and found my front tire mostly flat... don't actually fix it... just pump it up!

Headed up the Cowpath for the first time of the year. It went alright. I sort of want a technical but more SS friendly path around the big rock... but sort of don't want to cheapen the trail... yeah... getting off and walking isn't a problem. No ride around!

The trails were a bit damp from the morning dew, but other than getting a little dirty it was pretty much perfect. On my second lap, I noticed that my rear tire was now pretty much flat... GAH! Up the ski trail climb and out to the meadows to head back. I ended up blasting some CO2 into it and it held all the way home. I PROBABLY should actually look into it and make sure I don't have anything destroying tubes...

Love the views on the South Side of the bluff

The views on the North Side are also pretty good in places

After naps and yardwork was complete we headed back up the bluff as a whole family and Graham got to hit some singletrack. 4 loops of our personal "green loop" (with a couple of re-rides of the "hill") and he was excited but exhausted. Carly was toting Jillian in the backpack so she was a bit pooped out too... a solid day!

Carving a curve on the "hill"

"Riding" the log skinny

She's got personality

A beautiful weekend!

Carly was working so it was a "Mr. Mom" type weekend. Saturday ride plans had to be scrubbed due to lack of tried and true babysitting options... while I think Bubble Guppies could do it for a lap of the bluff I don't know that I should test those waters...

Because of the no Saturday riding, I decided to take off of work Friday afternoon. Met a couple of fellow SPHers up on the hill for what proved to be a fun and exhausting ride! 3 turned to 2 turned to myself for the last of 3 laps. The hills were definitely getting tougher on the last 1/2 of the lap! And I skipped Stairway on laps 2 and 3 along with skipping the Quarry on 2 and 3.

I did attempt a section of Southern Cross on lap 3... possibly my favorite 10 yards of trail on the whole bluff. It's not IMBA approved... it's not pretty... in fact it keeps getting worse... did I make it?

If I have a picture of it... I don't think I made it. Love the challenge of the roots! There is probably a better line but you have to just throw yourself at this wall...

Saturday Graham and Jillian hit a section of singletrack for a couple of little loops. I was walking with J in the backpack... Graham "shredding" on his balance bike... he loves it. Can't wait to see how he progresses (if he does... no pressure from my end) and picks up pedaling later this spring/summer.

You can make a fairly nice "green" loop out of most of Margaritaville... 

Graham has such a game face on... he really does say he had a lot of fun!

This Past Weekend

So far the weather has been spotty for allowing lots of biking/family time (and work has been stupid nuts).

But this weekend was pretty good and other than throwing out my back moving a boulder was pretty good.

The drive to check on roads for the 'Rok went well. Tasty new section of MMR just south of Millville was found, though to our knowledge there is no public way to get over a little stream...

Graham biked (balance version) for at least 3.5 miles yesterday... lots of gliding and a little singletrack thrown in. In a couple of weeks the trails will be open, so we'll have to try and hit some together maybe!

The team is growing!

Saturday was sweet.... favorite shot of the day?

SPH's youngest active members...

Snow!

Well... we finally got snow. And it really got cold. What does that mean? Fat biking the bluff of course!

The tame winter has kept the winter sport opportunities down a bit. I have been out on the regular MTB much more though, (though not much) so there is the good with the not so good.

The snow we received around the new year, and then this past week finally have a good base for some winter activities. If I had the gumption to wax my skis for frigid weather I would probably ski... but I don't ... so get out the fat bike.

Step 1:

Check the weather. Realize that it isn't really even that bad (for me).

Step 2:

Dress for success. What does that mean? Thick wool socks. Wind front briefs, XC ski pants, running tights over that. Long underwear top, Old Nike Waffle hoodie cycling undershirt, fleece sweatshirt, and old Nike jacket to stop the wind. I slapped my light PI beanie under the hood of the Nike Waffle, and then had a facemask thing too. Because of the Bar mitts I just used some thinly insulated gloves that would not be enough for anything under about 32 degrees by themselves. Footwear was the 45Nrth Wolvhammers of course.

Step 3:

Help try to get a 3 year old back in bed for his nap. Start to get a bit warm...

Step 4:

Bike to the trail. Try to decide... which will be better... Cowpath or Skyline Drive... I chose Cowpath. About this time I also ditched my sunglasses... I like the windblocking... but they just fog up and are pointless. If I really get into this snow biking thing a more "skiing"-centric helmet/google set-up would be preferable.

Step 5:

Commence walking up the whole Cowpath. It actually may have been slightly rideable, but the gearing required to keep moving forward would have been slower anyways... start to peel off layers or at least un-zip

Step 6:

Get to the top of the cowpath and realize that no one has been up here at least where I want to get going towards... fresh tracks! Which eventually turns into more trudging. Even the darn road was tough to traverse... I guess less people use the bluff than I thought...

Step 7:

Finally get to where I can just coast/pedal/etc. Realize I have no idea where folks have been trying to bike. I decide to ride Lay Down Sally backwards as there is a track.

Do most of Lay Down and just turn around as the single fat bike tire and irregular walker that had beaten the path down just wasn't doing it for me (and I realized how late it was since it took forever to actually get up to the top of the bluff.

Nice views though...

The trip down the Cowpath was actually pretty quick/enjoyable. 1.25 hours of hard work for 10 minutes of singletrack fun... not the worst way to spend a bit of an afternoon (while avoiding watching the Vikings - good choice there! yikes)