Beer Friday

Oh and that rock floating in the beer? My iPhone has just started added that to all my photos. I guess it's time for a new phone...

Fatback Fever

I know it's nearing the end of the snow biking season but I've started the wheels in motion to join the fat bike club. It turns out there is a local shop that carries the Fatback and when I stopped in yesterday to chat them up, I left with a demo bike to try out. I had been surveying the fat bike landscape, asking questions of one of Alaska's hard core snow bikers and the trail was leading to the Fatback offered by Speedway Cycles in Anchorage Alaska.

It's one thing to have people rave about a particular bike but quite another to get out on it and see for yourself. I was expecting a nice bike and wasn't at all disappointed but didn't quite understand how nice this bike really is. After easily rolling over a bunch of (presumably unridable) snow piles at the local school and some impromptu singletrack where dog walkers had beat a path through a little wooded chunk of no man's land, I decided to head for home. There aren't a lot of hills in my neighborhood but there are a few short ones and heading up one I was mentally preparing for the slog up it. The bike didn't have clip less pedals and I had been too lazy to swap them out so I was expecting hill would be even more challenging with half my pedal stroke unavailable to me.

Turns out the bike is quite the snappy climber and I was cresting the hill still waiting for the hard part to start.

With the fever raging there was only one thing to do: take action to get my own Fatback. It will take a while to pull all the pieces together and I may end up missing this snow biking season but boy will I be ready next year!

Obligatory New Years Post

Great Year blah, blah
Personal best blah, blah
Making New Year's resolutions blah, blah

Happy New Year anyway!

SnowDancer

I get tired shoveling snow but my pooch really gets exhausted.

Here's why:




Ain't that a hoot?

Local Bike Shop Needs Help

Tonka Cycle & Ski in Minnetonka MN has just lost their lease with very short notice. They had just received their full winter inventory and agreed to take their spring bike inventory early when they got the news that their lease won't be renewed.

It's a great shop (it's where we bought our tandem) and they are looking for a new location but with only a couple months to get out of their current location, inventory reduction is their primary motivation. This means there are deals to be had for us which also help them.

Hopefully they will be back in business soon but in the mean time, stop on by for some great christmas shopping if you are in the Twin Cities.

Early Days

Rummaging around this weekend and I came across this old gem of me with my first road bike back in'72 or '73. I rode this bike on many self-supported tours and in this photo I was showing off the newly repainted frame as I had worn off a great deal of the factory black paint that it had.

I still have this bike though it's in rough shape now. I fantasize about rebuilding it to it's former glory. Campy frame marketed as Prima and mostly Campy parts; it was a sweet ride. It's been almost 40 years but it could be a sweet ride once again.

He's just not normal

But I like it!

Bring it, I'm ready

Winter Storm Warning
Hazardous Weather Outlook

Tonight: A chance of rain and snow before midnight, then snow. Low around 33. Northeast wind between 8 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. 

Saturday: Snow. High near 34. North northeast wind around 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible. 

Saturday Night: Snow likely, mainly before midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 34. North northwest wind between 13 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. 

Satisfaction

IMBA Alert, your call to Action!

CAMBA Urging Mountain Bikers to Comment on Trail Plans


Wisconsin's Bayfield County Forest is seeking input on the Access Management Plan for the forest. Several questions have extremely important and pertinent implications to CAMBA-built mountain bike trails and other non-motorized trails in the Cable Block of the County Forest. This block includes all County Forest south of Cable from west of Randysek Road all the way east to the National Forest in Namakagon. This includes perhaps the most important collection of non-motorized trails in the state and includes the CAMBA bike trails, the North End Trail Head and ski and snowshoe trails, some Telemark ski trails and the Birkie and Birkie Classic trails.

If you ride these trails, get involved and fill in the survey. The continued preservation of non-motorized trails is important for personal safety, trail maintenance and enjoying the wilderness experience. Motorized trails are little affected by non-motorized use but the opposite is true when motorized access is mixed in with non-motorized use.


If you don't ride these trails, you should as they are as good as it gets!


The more numerous our voices, the more likely we can preserve this wilderness experience. Take action, get involved and join with the other voices trying to protect this wilderness area.


Thanks!