Sunday Maplelag Ride

Trent "Lumberjack" Litchy and I went out to Maplelag Resort yesterday morning. What a great ride. The trails were in perfect shape. They are all marked and blown off for the UCI race on May 12th and 13th. The temps were close to the 80's with a slight breeze, sunny and there were no bugs. Just a beautiful morning. We did two laps of the expert course. Trent cleaned all of the lakeside drops for the first time ever. He was very excited about that. Way to go Trent! After cleaning all the drops he let his guard down on a small log bridge for just a split second. Next thing you know, over the bars trying to chop logs with his head. Luckily he was just fine. Nothing hurt except his helmet that totally saved his noggin. I ended up taking the Pugsley out there since I'm having my fork on the 8000 serviced right now. I ran about 20psi in the Endomorphs and had little trouble with the rocks and roots on the course. Although with that low of pressure it wanted to track in a straight line and took some effort to turn in the tight corners. I think it would be a great choice if the course is slick and muddy. Tons of traction for a small weight penalty. I did miss having a shock though. The rigid fork gave me a few blisters even with the bouncy tires. Overall we had an excellent time, and can't wait to get back out there. If you haven't been to Maplelag yet you are seriously missing out on the best singletrack in the area. There's a link to the right in the cycling links section. Check it out. In the mean time here are a few pictures and a video of "Lumberjack" Litchy mastering the lake side drops. Enjoy.

I thought I saw Papa Smurf chasing Smurfette through these flowers : )

Smurf pictures from www.bluebuddies.com

I stopped in the Ski and Bike Shop on Saturday afternoon. Man were they busy. Way to go guys and gals. Chuck Linder was even there. Hi Chuck. Luckily Dave Sears found the time to install a pair of fenders and a second layer of bar tape on the Poprad. Fenders for commuting in the rain, and more bar tape for those long gravel grinders this summer. He did a really nice job on the tape. I'm trying out some of Salsa's Goma tape in a loud orange color. It seems more durable than regular gel tape. As for the fenders I took Kent Peterson's advice on getting the Planet Bike Cascadia fenders. They really cover the wheel. I should be streak free for sure. At least on the outside of my shorts : ) Thanks to PW for getting me those parts and Thanks again to Dave for going above and beyond, as usual. Here's a few pictures of the Poprad. Jen calls it the "Ernie Bike". Enjoy.

Our family has doubled in size over the weekend. Say hello to Jax and Jersey. Jax is the striped boy and Jersey is the black and white girl.

Climbing Songs My blogging and biking have been non-exsistent lately. Earlier this week we got over six inches of snow and it's turned cold again. I think I'll take this year off of the bike if this keeps up. Don't get me wrong. I like the snow and cold, but everything has it's place. I want summer to get here fast. Big game for the Sioux hockey team tonight at the Frozen Four. Brian will be there. Hopefully he can give a rink side perspective of their win tomorrow. Go Sioux! The Fat Cyclist and Dave Nice recently posted about their favorite climbing tunes. Here's a few of mine. Not that there is any climbing in the eastern part of North Dakota. Unless you count highway overpasses : ) I like to think of these as hard interval songs. Enjoy. - Defy You / The Offspring - No Breaks / The Offspring - Move Along / All American Rejects - Down With the Sickness / Disturbed - Can't Stop / Red Hot Chili Peppers - One / Metallica - The Road / Tenacious D - Danger Zone / Kenny Loggins (this one's for Greg aka-TopGun) - Jesus Built My Hotrod / Ministry Anyone else want to post theirs. Think of this as another game of tag. If your reading this. Your it.