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)

Now it's Winter!

Got out yesterday for a quick spin up on the bluff before what, at least potentially, is quite the winter storm. 18" of snow?!? I will believe that when I see it. Though the low limit seems to still be 6-8" for Red Wing... so that's not to be sneezed at. Hopefully the snow blower still starts!

I wonder how long until the trail is packed down by the LC crew....? The conditions yesterday were awesome.

Still doesn't feel like Winter

The weather has been unseasonably warm this year. So much so that for the past 3 weeks or so the freeze/thaw cycle has meant that the trails up on Memorial have been closed for WAY too long. Well... not too long, as evidenced by the ruts and damage in "In Through the Out Door" and "Isaa-godda-davida". Anyway...

The weather on Saturday was finally below freezing (at least just below!).

The trails were in great shape. Rolling fast with the frozen ground. I headed out on the snowshoe trails down the Sandstone Drop and once again my imagination went wild thinking of some fun singletrack all the way out to the point and back.

On the way back I started to run into some little sections of sun-exposed trail that were getting soft, so I made sure to get off the trails ASAP to not end up being part of the problem.

All in all, almost 10 miles of biking the week before Christmas with no snow on the ground. It was definitely what the doctor ordered.

Out by the Sandstone Drop

That's the trail... Ashamed but not ashamed that I walked the last sketchy drop

Sunday brought much warmer temps so we got Graham out for some spins on his bike. He's getting so big! It's been a while since he's gotten out on his bike, so it was good to see that he still had a blast and still could be a huge daredevil. Proudest moment? He slammed into a cone and went down... just brushed off and got back on with no complaints or whining... Good job buddy!

Still got it!

Happy Trails to Scraggs!

While it isn't really saying "Good Bye", Ole Scraggs will be sailing his schooner westward to Colorado.

We got in one last ride (at least a couple of us) over the weekend. Nothing too epic, but we did explore some fun parts of the bluff that we don't get to see too often.

Don't be a stranger Ole Scraggly Beard!

Which way do we go?

The trail is there somewhere.

Things I Like : The Power Loon

Every year while we were growing up we would take a couple of vacations a year. Both would be going to somewhere in northern Minnesota, sometimes in a cabin, sometimes camping. Always fishing.

My earliest memories of music on these trips are of sitting in the old conversion van and listening to my mom and dad play tapes (and eventually CDs as soon as CD players came out, my pops was always into early adoption of tech) listening to CSNY, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, and the Dead. 

If I hear "Truckin'" I instantly think of heading up north in the green van.

Once we got a bit older, and probably radio technology improved, etc. We started to listen to a station out of Bemidji - Z99 or something... maybe with a LASER too... turns out it is the exact same stuff (just delayed a couple of minutes usually) to the Power Loon out of Brainerd/Baxter. 

The Loon replaced CDs as the soundtrack to our vacations... not necessarily because of the quality of the music. But because of the dependability of the ridiculousness of at least 2-3 songs an hour. SOMEONE PLAYS "CHILDREN OF THE SUN"?!!? And it would also start to come in just after St. Cloud. When you heard the first Rush, Led Zeppelin, or Billy Squier song... you were officially on vacation.

Of all the ways the internet has affected my life, I am happiest (at least right now) with the face that you can stream the Power Loon anywhere you have the internet... and rock out to 25% good songs, 50% generic "classic rock" and 25% mind-blowingly bad 70s and 80s "hits".

http://tunein.com/radio/The-Power-Loon-1075-s33764/

What is playing right now? Well... Supertramp just ended... the radio host is talking about having too much saliva in her mouth... and life is good.

Happy Hump Day!