Pugs Update

Well I dropped off the Pugs at The Ski and Bike Shop Saturday afternoon to get some parts put on. To my delight Sears had everything done by the close of business on Sunday. He did an awesome job. Top notch I tell ya. Just check out the pictures below. I was sooooooooooo excited to be able to have it back so that I can start scoring some points in the WCRS. I promise to start riding again this week Gary : )

This morning I was going to go and take some pictures of the Pugs to post, but my camera wouldn't turn on. I thought that I might have left it on and run down the battery, so I put it on the charger to see if that fixed the problem. It didn't. So, I took it too Best Buy, where I had bought it, to see what they could do for me. At first the service guy looked at it and checked it out with his gadgets. Then he said to just go and pick out a new one to replace this one. I thought that was pretty cool. So, I went to the camera department to get another one. I told the sales person what had happened and he said that he could give me a comparable camera that was about $200 dollars less than what I had paid for the original camera. I said no thanks, and told him that was a pretty sh**ty deal. He said that this new camera was better than my old one, and that they don't have one like my old one. I still told him that wasn't good enough. I had spent a lot of money on my other camera only 6 months ago, and now he was going to give me a cheaper camera. I don't think so. So, he went and talked to someone in back, and they said that I could pick out any camera that I wanted that was equal to what I had originally paid for the first camera. That seemed fair. I picked out this one, and was on my way. Long story, but I had to vent. Here are some pictures from the new camera of the new parts on the Pugs. Enjoy.

This is the Pugs before all the new goodies were installed. Also the last picture taken with my old camera.

New center-lock rotor.

The Paul Thumbie with Dura-Ace 9-speed bar end shifter. I really like this setup. Very nice!

This deraileur has seen more action than Squez : ) Still going strong.

Mmmm, gears. 9-speeds and a new XT hub.

New spokes and brass nipples for Marge.

Full length housing with a little Sears Rasta flare on the zip ties. It is very Festivus!

Thanks again Sears and SBS!

Cold Night #3

Slept out again last night. Made it down to -8F. I added my down jacket over the lower portion of sleeping bag inside the bivy for some extra warmth. I also wore a Patagonia R2 fleece and my wind pants over a mid-weight base layer. This system is the warmest so far. I fell right asleep and didn't wake up at all from the cold. Very cozy. I feel very confident that I can bivy out overnight in almost any conditions now.

Also, I got most of the parts that I ordered for the Pugsley. Just waiting on the Paul Thumbies. Now I just need to have the new XT hub laced into the rear wheel, and the 9-speed shifter and deraileur installed. Then the Pugs will be ready for the WCRS. Watch out Dr. Cale : ) The good guys at SBS will be doing the dirty work for me. Hopefully I'll have it back in time for the trip up to the Arrowhead Trail on the 16th. Think snow! That's all for today. Here's some pictures to spice things up a bit.

Sleeping bag and pad inside of bivy sack.

Me inside of bivy sack.

A view from inside the bivy sack. That is my down jacket at the bottom of the bag.

All the goodies that will soon be consumed by the Pugsley.

The poor 8000 has lost something.

Second Gear Test Did another sleeping gear test last night up in good old Grand Forks. A little colder last night than earlier this week. It got down to -3 degrees F with a 15 mph wind. I lasted until 4:30am when the cold started to creep into my bag with me. I used my Bibler Bipod Bivy this time. It definitely helped to keep the wind off of me and add a little bit of warmth. I slept very well. I really felt comfortable for the first time. I didn't have any of the claustrophobic panic attacks that send me clawing for the zippers in the middle of the night. I think that I will continue to try and get more comfortable by sleeping outside whenever the forecast calls for temps below 0 degrees F. We'll see how many nights I can get this winter : ) Cold Night Count: 2

Gear Test Well after reading that Chris was going to test out his sleeping gear last night. I too decided to brave the cold. I plopped down my Thermarest Prolite 4 sleeping pad and Northface Tundra -20 sleeping bag on the deck and climbed in for a good nights sleep. I just wore minimal clothing. A long sleeve midweight polypro top, a pair of sweatpants (real quality technical wear), a pair of expedition weight Smartwool socks and a Patagonia beanie. The temperature only made it down to 4 degrees F, so I was plenty warm. I slept until 3:30am when I got up to go to the bathroom. After going inside I decided that I had enough for one night and layed down in my cozy bed. Overall a good way to start off the winter gear testing. Now I need to get out and test it in real world conditions. Rick and I are still planning on going up to the Arrowhead Trail the 3rd weekend in December. That should be a better test under "race conditions". If anyone else wants to come along that weekend I think we'll have room. How about it pw? That's all for today. Later.

More snowbike stuff Has anyone seen this setup before? Looks like it would be a lot of fun. Talk about good traction. With a four inch Endomorph tire you get a good 4x4 patch of contact or better. With a track system I bet you get a foot or more in length and a couple inches in width of contact. The ski seems a little scary though. Hit an icy spot on the trail and I would think that would scoot right out from under you. $400 for the rear track kit and $140 for the ski kit. That's pretty cheap compared to what it costs for a Large Marge wheelset. I'm tempted to try the rear track kit out next winter unless Ktrak would like to sponsor me for the Arrowhead 135 this year : ) Today I ordered up a 9-speed XT hub and a 9-speed bar end shifter. Now I just need to get a Paul Components thumbie adapter and the Pugs will be ready for anything. Don't worry all you single speed fans out there. I'll still have the 20t freewheel on the front. I hope the SBS can fit me into their busy winter schedule : ) Here's a good article that I saw on the Alaska MTBR forum. At the end there is talk of making a carbon fiber snow rim. Very interesting stuff. I think I'll go for a ride now. I got some catching up to do in the Winter Challenge Ride Series. Later.

Happy Thanksgiving

Here is a mandatory gear list of what I have for the Arrowhead 135. Definitely could be improved, but a good start. I'll try and get a recommended gear list up soon as well. That is the list of equipment that you use to make up the rest of the 15 lb minimum.

Mandatory Gear List (15 lbs at ALL times) -20 Sleeping Bag – The North Face Tundra Polarguard Delta Regular Length 3 lbs 15 oz Insulated Sleeping Pad – Therm-a-Rest Prolite 4 Regular 1 lb 8 oz Bivy Sack or Tent (NO space blankets) – Bibler Bipod Bivy 1 lb 13 oz Firestarter (Matches or Lighter) – Coghlan’s Windproof/Waterproof Matches 0.25 oz Stove to heat water – MSR Whisperlite International Stove 14 oz 8 fl oz of Fuel at all times – MSR 11 oz Fuel Bottle filled with White Gas 2.7 oz bottle / 11 oz white gas Pot (min volume 1 pint) – Snow Peak Titanium Folding Cup (Holds 21.2 oz) 2.8 oz 2-qt insulated water container – 2 Nalgene Lexan 1 qt Water Bottles 6.4 oz each empty - 2 Outdoor Research Water Bottle Parkas 5 oz each Headlamp or Flashlight – Cateye HL-EL410 Compact Opticube 2.6 oz including batteries Flashing red light (both front and back) – 2 Knog Frog red LED lights 0.7 oz each including batteries Whistle on string around neck – Coghlan’s Survivo II 5-in-1 1 oz 1-day of food at ALL times (3000 calories) – 1 lb of butter 1 lb Total Weight = 12.07 lbs

Lightening the load After reading Chris P's blog, and seeing what a weight watcher he is, I started to look at my gear to see where I could lose some weight. There's a backpack that he uses that I thought was a good place to start. Only 10 ounces, and cost just 25 bucks. Thanks Chris. I still have to do some testing to see how much I can carry in it. I'm striving to be the anti-Rick, and be a minimalist when packing for a long ride : ) I also have been searching the net for a lighter stove set-up. I remember Cellerat building one not too long ago out of a beer bottle. What kind of fuel did that use Dave? Anyone have experience with Esbit-style stoves? I found a couple of them on Backpackinglight.com. Very light weight and this one even makes good use out of a beer can as a pot. Might be worth trying. There is a bunch of good info on this site. It appeals to my weight weenie side. Any other good advice on stoves or fuel that you guys might have would be greatly appreciated. I also found a super light weight bivy sack that only weighs 6.5 oz! Might be a little too light weight for winter use though. I might have trouble getting up to the minimum 15lbs. of gear for Arrowhead this year : ) Speaking of Arrowhead. Rick and I have been talking about maybe pre-riding portions of the Arrowhead Trail in early December. Anyone else interested in something like that? That's all for now. Good luck to Team Brown Bear at the Wisconsin CX State Championships. As much as I hate it. I'll be wearing my TBB t-shirt in support tomorrow : )

Arrowhead Ultra 2007 I'm already getting excited for the Arrowhead 135 in February. Last year's DNF is a real motivator to get training this winter. Looks like there is going to be quite a few more runners this year. Still 14 spots left for anyone that wants to do a great race to start off the 2007 season. I was doing some research on vapor barriers for winter riding. Looks like a bunch of the top guys in the Alaska races use them with great success. RBH designs looks to be the top choice, but might be kind of spendy. There are some great stories in the expeditions section of their website. Stephenson's Warmlite is another company that looks good, and their prices are cheaper. There's a good section on how vapor barriers work. Lots of nude camping going on with that company. Check out the PDF version of their catalog. Very funny stuff. I think I'm going to order some socks and see how they work once it cools down here. Looks like you guys futher east and south got some snow to play in. Lets see some pictures of bikes in the snow : ) That's all for today. Have a good weekend.

Sunday Funday! Well the Sunday ride was a great success. "Success" meaning Rick didn't die on me : ) We started at 7:00am and a 100 miles later we got back at 7:00pm. A good 12 hour LSD ride with numerous breaks and a burger stop at the Tuel Shed in Warsaw, ND. Their burger and fries seriously rival the Hub Special. The fries are definitely better. Only two dogs got close to catching us. There were countless others that were tied up or fenced in that wanted to. We stopped outside of Oslo, MN for a rest and counted 8 gunshots in the 2 minutes we we're standing there. Thankfully we stayed out of Minnesota on opening weekend. One section of B-road between Warsaw and Minto was the highlight of the course. Some good muddy pictures below. Once the roads turned south there was a slight headwind and not a whole lot to look at until we got to the Kelly Slough. Overall a fun ride. There was talk of doing a similar route once a month all winter long. So those of you who hemmed and hawed will have numerous chances to join us next time : ) Now, on to the pictures.

Rick, in full EnduroSnob Epic gear, looking back to make sure he hasn't dropped me.

Someone has tried this route before : ) and failed : ( A Huffy just doesn't cut it.

I grabbed it so Rick could put it in his backpack : )

A quick sausage muffin break in Manvel. Finger lickin' good.

The killing fields across the bridge in Oslo, MN.

Quick break before Warsaw.

They sure like their camo up north. Mossy oak stalls in the Tuel Shed bathroom in Warsaw. Kind of scary, but they sure have good burgers.

Rick putting those wide tires to use on the B-road between Warsaw and Minto.

Me trying to keep the rubber side down.

Old Blue all gummed up. Nothing a few bottles of water couldn't clean up in Minto. Rick even had a repair stand in his backpack to make the job a snap : )

Looks like this gravel was brought from Kansas. Who's doing the Dirty Kanza next year?

Rick still having fun after 80 some miles.

Sun's going down. It's going to get cool again.

Last picture of the night. A frozen Kelly Slough. Hope you liked em. Later.

Sunday Opener Well it was brought to my attention that the Minnesota deer season opens this weekend. Soooo, instead of dressing up in blaze orange and dodging stray bullets I have taken out the Minnesota side of Sunday's route. I actually found a great road that runs along the Red River of the North. Should be "scenic" by Eastern North Dakota standards. The reroute only shaved off a few miles, and now we get to enjoy a great burger at The Tuel Shed in the land of the Polish - Warsaw, ND. There are also numerous bailout points for those who aren't up to an all day ride. Rick and I are in for sure, Sears is on the fence (I think he'll cave in tomorrow), Greg is interested (I think he'll cave in as well) and I'm still waiting to hear if Pw's back is up to it. I think a 7:00am start would be good. The forecast is looking pretty favorable. Am I forgetting anything else? I'll check in tomorrow to finalize the ride roster and details with everyone that has expressed interest. Leave a comment or give me a call if you have any questions or suggestions. Thanks. See you Sunday, Sunday Sunday! Here is the final draft of the route.

Course Update Here is a little shorter and cleaned up version of the mini EnduroSnob. I got it under a hundred miles : ) Who's in? Greg, Sears, Barton, Brian, Pat? Anyone?

Ride Roster

Rick Mangan

Dave Simmons

Dave Sears????

Greg Ames????

Mini EnduroSnob Epic Well since the EnduroSnob Epic isn't going to happen this weekend, and Matt's Tobasco ride is too far away. Rick and I came up with the idea to do a mini version on Sunday November 5th. Sorry for the short notice. I'm a spur of the moment kind of guy. This will be a real informal ride. I know Sears and Barton expressed interest last weekend. Here is a quick gravel grinder course I came up with. Be patient it might take a few seconds to open up. We can shorten or lengthen it as you guys wish : ) Plenty of towns to stop and warm-up at. I was thinking of starting pretty early in the morning. Let me know what you think. Lets hear some suggestions and opinions. The forecast is calling for a high of around 35 with light winds out of the SE. Get your cold weather gear ready. Or we could just go to TR : )

Happy Halloween Picture Post

Mr. Ames smiling next to an upside down tree after a quick spin around Turtle River. It's getting chilly out there. It won't be long now until there's snow on the ground.

Budget Biker's winter bike. Looks like fun : )

A fat new 2.70 tire on the front.

A hub's eye view of that wide tire.

Just enough room. I guess you have to remove the brake arm in order to get this tire in there. Nice work SBS.

Random links post I'm going to attempt to link to as many other sites as possible in one post. Well it's official I signed up for the Arrowhead 135 today. Now I just have to wait and see if they accept my entry. Only 50 allowed this year and those 50 are determined by your race resume. I hope I'm worthy. As of earlier this week only 23 had registered so hopefully I'm in by default : ) I found a bike apparel company named Evomo that I ordered a T-shirt from. Here is one that expresses how I feel about Dr. Dingle's recent post. Make sure you enlarge the picture to get the whole effect. Pretty nice stuff. Not as nice as the Team Brown Bear shirts that I can't wait to see. Speaking of Team Brown Bear. Brooks is on a roll in the WCA cyclocross series. Second in points. Very impressive. Brian could be right up there if he can just toughen up a little : ) Is Lane alive? In the on going Pugsley saga. I'm set on a 9-speed rear wheel. If it's good enough for Mike Curiak, it's good enough for me. Now I just need to install a couple valves in the fork and downtube for white gas : ) Does anyone have a hub suggestion? Sounds like DT Swiss is pretty good. That's all for now. Later.

Pugs II Lots of interesting ideas out there for the Pugs. I still like the idea of a 9-speed wheel in back, and a reserve single speed wheel on the front in case something goes wrong with the shifting. Although pw's Nexus idea is a close second. I'll have to research that one some more. Cellerat brought up some good questions on gear. I liked how the pogies worked last year, but I'll be experimenting with some other gloves to see if I can drop a little weight. As for the Lake boots I used last year. They worked fine up to about -5 degees. I want to try out a light pair of winter boots with a pair of Power Grips pedals. I also like the thermos idea from Curiak's Moots rig. Freezing water was a big problem last year at the Arrowhead. I could put some soup in one of them. Mmmm. There might be some fabricating going on this winter. Keep the great suggestions coming. Is anyone else seriously considering doing the Arrowhead race this year? It is a lot of fun.

Pugsley Upgrade I want to upgrade the Pugsley. I don't know if it is really an upgrade or not, but there are a couple of things I want to change. First I want to either rebuild or replace the rear wheel. I want to make it into a 9x1, sorry single speeders. That means I need a new rear hub or entire wheel. As well as a rear deraileur and shifter. If a new wheel is the way to go I want to try the new extruded Large Marge XC rim from Surly. Not sure on the hub yet. For the shifter I'm thinking of a Paul Components thumbie paired with a 9-speed shimano bar end shifter. For the rear deraileur I will use the 9-speed XTR off the 8000. I also thought about going with the White Industries Dos ENO freewheel, but it doesn't come in a big enough gear. I'd need at least a 22t. Any other ideas?

Cavemen are people too I always thought there was something different about Fox. A manly beard, he likes to be in the woods, sophisticated, and he writes Haiku : )

Work Bench I'm looking for any advice on building a home work bench. I want to get a shop together for this winter in my garage. I know a few of you have built your own and I was wondering if you just winged it, or had plans to go off of. As many of you know I'm not very handy when it comes to tools, but I think I can handle this little project. I know there are some nice pre-built benches out there too. I would like to try it myself though. I was thinking of something I can mount a truing stand and a vice to. Any thoughts or advice before I end up like Kerkove.

Titanium Bits Since I've been "domesticated". I've had plenty of time to veg-out in front of the TV. Last week I was watching ESPN and Primal Quest Utah came on. They were profiling some of the teams, and one of them was "Jen's Men". To my surprise there was a Grand Forks native on the team. It was Jason Magness, one of the guys from the climbing wall at the mall across from the Ski and Bike Shop. They interviewed him, and I have to say he's sounds like an interesting guy. I guess he used to be a rocket scientist and worked for the FBI to name a couple of the things he used to do. Now he teaches Yoga in GF. Crazy. Anyway it was entertaining seeing Jen's Men run around Utah for 500 miles. They ended up getting 24th place out of 90 teams. Very impressive. I think it would be fun to try an adventure race some day. Anyone else ever attempted or want to attempt one of these? In other news Jen and I went out and looked for wedding bands. She found one she really likes, but I couldn't find one. Then I remembered seeing some sweet titanium chainrings and cogs on the singlespeed forum at MTBR. They are made by Boone Titanium Rings and guess what they make titanium wedding bands as well. After browsing their site I found a couple I like. I might even have to get a matching chainring for the Pugsley : )

First Snow

First Snow of the year today. Looks like we might get an inch or more. It'll probably melt just as fast as we get it though. I'll try and take out Pugsley for it's first snow ride this year! Here are a few pictures.

I switched over to the beta blogger. So, I had to redo all my links. I think it looks better now. I will still be adding some more as I remember them. I also created a copycat blog to go along with the Team Brown Bear blog that Brooks and Brian made. It is Team Polar Bear. Enjoy.

I'm Baaaack Well I made it back from the metropolis of Memphis, TN. It was quite an experience. Courier training went great. I'm glad to be done with all of that. I didn't realize that Memphis was such a big city. Lots of crime. Eight murders, numerous robberies and assults in the two weeks I was down there. A couple of the other guys that were down there for training took me to Beale St. It's a famous street in downtown Memphis that has a ton of blues clubs and restaurants along it. Very cool atmosphere. We went to BB Kings blues club. Also checked out the Rendevous restaurant for some of their famous Memphis "dry ribs". Very tasty. Thanks for recomending it PW. While walking along the blocked off street, a guy passed us followed closely by a few of Memphis' finest. They grabbed him and started to take him back the other way. He started to resist them. I've seen enough episodes of COPS to know what was coming next. They threw his arms up behind his head and took him down face first into a metal railing outside one of the clubs. Then they all piled on him with knees in his back. All the while he's screaming "I didn't do nothing". This was about 10 feet from us. We just stood there in awe. Welcome to Memphis : ) I also got to see a NHL exhibition game at the FedEx Forum. Predators vs. Blue Jackets. Lots of fighting and scoring. Nashville won 8-1. Karl Goehring was on Nashville's roster, but didn't play. I also saw a guy with a Sioux jersey on. What a small world. One night we headed down to Tunica, Mississippi to lose some money at the mini-Vegas they have there. It really is like a mini-Vegas. Big casinos with all the lights and attractions. I ended up playing a cash poker game for about five hours. I was up a 100 bucks at one point, but then lost it all and ended up down a hundred. Just like on TV : ) All in all it was a good trip. Two weeks on FedEx's dime, I can't complain : ) Here's a few pictures of the trip. Enjoy.

The famous Beale St.

Bad boys, Bad boys, whach ya gonna do when they come for you? Brought to you by the men and women of law enforcement : )

A neon "Lucille"

On the way downtown this guy was going the wrong way down the street in his rickety looking wheelchair. The speed limit here was 40 mph! Unbelievable. I was surprised this picture turned out as well as it did since we were going so fast by him. Ride it like you stole it buddy.

At the hockey game. The FedEx Forum is similar to the Englestad Arena, but one level taller and not as luxurious.

The Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. There were probably 20+ casinos all lit up like this.

Mr. Kerkove posted about a new map site called Route Slip. I mapped a couple of routes in the North Dakota section. Llama Turtle Field Brian! Check it out, and add some more. Pretty cool stuff.

The EnduroSnob Epic has been cancelled. That is too bad. I had gotten time off and everything. Oh well I might put my time off to good use and go to Matt's Tobasco ride in Iowa instead.

Anyone want to go out to TR this weekend?

That's all for now.

Turtle River, CX, Ultra Distance Events and Memphis I went out to Turtle River State Park on Monday. The new trails the Americorp crew made are perfect. They extended the horse trail section so that there is single track all the way along the hill on the east and south side of the trail. Very fun and fast. Especially going opposite of the "race loop". I managed to clip a tree with my left grip which sent me heading straight into a tree on the right side of the trail. I cushioned the blow with my arm and then rolled a couple times down the hill. I was a human pinball : ) Then the ski trial section just before heading into the gopher hills has been replace with some sweet single track as well. A few nice roots and rocks in this part. The old Americorp trail along the marshes was also widened and groomed better than ever. Helmets off to those guys and gals from Americorp who put in over six solid weeks of trail work. Thank you very much. Brian, make sure you bring the 9.9 in October. Paddy, you and Naomi should head over there on your way down to the CX races at the end of the month.

The new and improved section towards the end of the "race loop"

Tonight I went to the first cyclocross race of the season in Moorhead at Johnson Park. I've never done a CX race before, and it was an eye opener. 45 minutes of my lungs on fire. Ouch! I'm out of shape. It was painful but fun. A lot of nice guys and gals showed up. A big thunderstorm just missed us. Only a few sprinkles to make some of the grass sections slick. I will definitely be back for more.

EnduroSnob needs some brave souls to sign up for the EnduroSnob Epic in November. Only six signed up so far, and a third are from North Dakota. Lets try and get a 50% representation at least. If Mangan and I can do it then Sears and Brian certainly can. Come on guys. You can do it.

Also the Arrowhead 135 registration is open now until December 1st. Start getting your winter camping gear in order. This is a must do race. Any takers out there? Pw-how about it this year?

In non-biking news I'm heading to Memphis, Tennesse on Sunday. I'll be there for two weeks for FedEx training. Then everyone in Fargo better stay off the sidewalks cause I'll be behind the wheel of a big white truck : ) It should be fun. Anyone been there before? I'm gonna try and catch a Nashville Predators pre-season NHL game. Other than that I'll see if I can't rent a bike and get in better shape while I'm down there.

That's all for now. I'll try and keep up with blogging while I'm in Memphis. Hopefully I'll get a bunch of pictures of Graceland to share with everyone : )

Paddy Wagon Hey Mr. Hummeny. I didn't know you were sponsored by KONA! Check out Paddy's new ride for 2007 : )

Afton Results and Pictures Here are the solo results from the 24 Hours of Afton race. Brian-11th, Chuck-15th, Me-40th, Trent-42nd, Sears-68th. Great job everyone! Here are a few more random pictures. Enjoy.

Trent rockin the 4900. We need to get him a jersey : )

Trent after one too many Red Bulls! You the man Trent : )

Mario making friends at Afton. I want a dog.

Afton Aftermath Afton didn't go as well as I hoped it would. Started off trying to beat Kerkove on the run. I'm too slow to be doing that. I'll learn one of these days. Hit the first climb and had no power. That was pretty much the story until I pulled the plug at 3 o'clock in the morn. I had a few falls and one good crash somewhere in there. Brian had a good race with 11 laps. Trent had a stellar performance as well. He got six laps, and managed to shave 40 minutes off of his best lap from last year. Amazing! Sears managed a few laps on his fixed 29er. That couldn't have been easy with all the hills and fast downhills. To each their own I guess : ) Chuck was still going stong with 11 laps when we had packed up camp early. Have to wait till the Afton site posts the results to see where he ended up. Overall a good performance from our camp. Thanks go out to our solo pit crew person Tonia. Thanks to Alane and Dick for the deviled eggs. Mmmmmm. Thank you Chuck for letting us use your RV. That was nice. Congrats go to Team Cannondale with the one two punch of Mr.24 and Bucannondale. It's gotta be the shoes! That's all folks. Here are some photos.

Mario and me getting aquainted on the ride down : ) You fed him, right?

Sears admiring his bike on the left. Trent working on his knot tying skills. Mario on the trail for some bitches. Tonia surveying her support setup. And Brian, well I'm not sure what he is doing.

In other news. The Hummenys' had a great weekend at a 8 hr race in Canada. And Nick Martin pops the question on his blog. That blows my mind. Proposing after three days? It took me nine years! Wow. I'll try and post more pictures later. Blogger is acting up again.

Afton here I come Well after weeks of agonizing over whether or not I would be able to go to 24 Hours of Afton. I am going to be there this weekend. With over 70 solo racers it should be a good one. Brian, Sears, Trent and even Mr. 24 himself are going to be there. Maybe the Lederhosen laden Fox will show up as well. Looks like highs in the 70's and low's in the 50's with a slight chance of rain. Comfortable weather as long as it's not pouring like at Nine Mile. Trent is bringing a secret weapon that I would like to borrow on all the climbs : ) What is this weapon I speak of? Here he is.

Super Mario! I'll be making friends with him on the ride down : )

In other news. I started my new job on Monday. I spent the first day filling out a bunch of paper work. Then I got to watch nine training videos, and that wasn't even all of them. I think it is going to be a great place to work once all of the training is out of the way.

If I don't blog again before the weekend. Have a good one.

Random Post Went to Maplelag with Trent today. It was a great ride. The deer flies have died off and there are still no mosquitoes. Temps were in the 80's, but there was a nice breeze to cool us down. There was almost two miles of new singletrack. That means just over a nine mile course for the Laddies Loppet race in two weeks. It was good to get out there and see all of the new and old stuff. That course never fails to humble me. I had a few close calls on the lake drops. Trent had a nice slow motion Over-the-bars moment. I wish I had remembered my camera : ) Oh well, now Trent can deny it. Brian you need to get up this way with the 9.9 soon. You would love it. How about coming up for the Loppet? In other news. It looks like Dave Nice is looking at putting on a Trans-Iowa style race in Colorado next Fall. That would be a lot of fun. I should have more vacation to work with by that time as well. It also looks like Trans-Iowa V.3 is a go for next year. It is going to be a loop course instead of across the state though. I like that idea very much. Check out this post from Nick Martin's blog. I'd give anything for a Moots snow bike that carries your stove fuel in the fork and downtube. Wow! Speaking of snow bikes. Who wants to go to the Arrowhead 135 race on Feb. 5th? I'll be in GF again this weekend. Maybe it won't rain like last weekend, and I can check out the new trails at Turtle River. Talk to ya later.

New Job Well I can finally quit spending Jen's money. I got a new job yesterday. I just hope that I pass the drug test and physical : ) They don't test for HGH or EPO, do they? : ) At least I don't have to worry about a negative testosterone to epitestosterone ratio like Paddy : ) Anyway I should be starting at FedEx on the 21st. This means I might have to miss 24 Hours of Afton though. We'll see. I'll try and make it work. If you haven't already. Check out Brian's blog for pictures of the Climbs of the Tour de France. Alpe d'Huez! I'm soooo jealous. Heading to GF this weekend. I hope it doesn't rain. I'd like to go and check out the new trails at Turtle River. I'm also contemplating running a 10k on Saturday. A little cross training for CX season. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Later