Fat-Bike Weekend

The Thanksgiving weekend was a much needed break from work and home obligations. My wife and I were off the hook from hosting it this time since we did it last year. That left the four day weekend wide open for playing. I made it a goal to get a ride in everyday, and that's precisely what I did.

Let's get  out of here and get some food

  On Wednesday after work I met the gang for a sewer tour that went well and was followed by a good meal at a bar that we were way to old to be at.

River Bottoms

  On Thanksgiving day I rode with a group of four guys that I normally ride with. We hit the river bottoms and saw dozens of people we know, all doing the same pre- gigantic meal ritual. As an added bonus, my mom took the boys for the night and Lynn and I were able to see her cousin's band Ruben play at Amsterdam bar and hall in St Paul.

Giant Ham...mmmmmmm  Thanks Milltown

It was good to see my wife get some use out of her fat-bike.  

Yours truly

this would be awesome if it went for miles...sadly it didn't, but it was fun while it lasted

  The next morning we headed down to Milltown Cycle in Faribault, to enjoy the "Black Friday" ride and eat some really freakin' good ham. The trails down there are a lot of fun and remind me of the way mountain biking used to be, a mixture of two track, single track, renegade trail, connected together by locals that know the routes.

felt like summer ...it was so nice

Beer stop #2 approximately 2 miles form beer stop #1

  On Saturday I rode with a big group that met up at The Angry Catfish in Minneaplois. There were at least twenty people on this ride at the start. We headed for the 'bottoms" but stayed off the typical trails that are normally ridden.  There were a few too many beer stops but the weather was absolutely perfect for a late fall day. The highlight for me was the campfire at the end of the ride at Woodside Flats. I brought along a bunch of stuff to make tacos which in turn helped me make some new hungry friends.

I left the group and cut across this lake to shortcut to Woodside Flats so I could get my tacos cooked. I was VERY nervous about this, riding several small circles out on the ice to test the thickness before fully committing and putting it in the highest gear and cranking across. My logic...Speed defies gravity , I would either skirt right over the top of anything thin or go full speed into my watery demise, ounce I got that bitch rollin' it was not going to stop quickly.  

Nachos go great with tacos, these ones were cooked on a rock . It worked perfectly....accept for the ash, the sand and burning your hand when trying to remove one.....that still didn't stop these guys

  The last day of the long weekend I got out for one more short ride with my youngest son Big D. He's always the one that wants to ride when his brothers are busy with the video games, coloring, or reading. He and I headed out a couple hours before dark to have a little cook out. Along the way we saw some deer, a raccoon, and found a cool bird nest on the ground.  We built a small fire, made hot chocolate, and cooked some soup.  It was a late lunch but it gets dark so flippin' early now it felt like dinner.

like father like son ?

 All in all, it was fantastic weekend of riding, relaxing, and socializing.     Disclaimer; No skinny tired bikes were injured (or ridden) during the making of this weekend.