Outpost

Starting the ride with a flat is always good 

 Somewhere in northern Minnesota sits a very small off grid cabin. It was built by and owned by my Dad. I've spent a decent amount of time there over the years and since his passing I wanted to keep the place alive and use it as much as possible. I was at the cabin doing some maintenance in early November just before deer opener. I almost always have a my bike with me and thought it would be good to ride since I got all my work done.  It turned into a dismal beat-down type of solo ride in the shittiest of conditions, 40 miles, off and on rain with temps no more than 50deg F. It was then that I came up with a plan to do an outpost ride in the winter when it usually doesn't rain.  Due to size constraints, 4 would be the max number of participants, 3 of us went. The week before the ride I stocked the building with food in a cooler and placed water jugs in plastic bins for when they may crack open from freezing, as well as a deep cycle battery for lighting.  On Friday night after work the three of us parked about 20 miles out for the ride in on the Soo Line Trail. The trail conditions were very good in the beginning and deteriorated as we went. 

ArcFlash was feeling sick here, we thought about turning back but he is way too tough for that

Boney , feeling great 

salvation

The difficulty of the ride had the perfect effect of being relieved to reach the cabin as a point of salvation. It took a while  to get the cabin warmed up, we ate, we bullshitted, but no one wanted to go outside and have a fire. The next day just happened to be Global Fat-Bike Day, we had fat bikes and we rode them most of the day. Our ride started with us back on the Soo Line and would also include a bunch of gravel roads. Our mid way lunch stop was at Pour Louie's  in Mc Grath. The ride wasn't especially difficult but the cold and the extra effort to keep a fat bike rolling in snow has a way of wearing you down.

middle of trail is best place to park bikes 

ArcFlash ...way off 

 Once inside, the wet layers of clothes come off, the warmth of the room sets in and the last thing you want to think about is the 2-3 hours you still have to ride to get your ass back to the actual end of the ride. This can be overcome by chugging 3-4 mountain dews, maybe a red bull just to make sure, and two full entrees.... and some candy bars for the road. The massive calorie intake does help, but  the fact remains that there is only one way to get it done, get back on the bike and pedal. We arrived back at the cabin around dark and spent the evening eating and bullshitting, again no one wanted to go outside and have a fire.

The ride Sunday, back to the vehicle was much better than the ride on Friday night, conditions got better as we went and it wasn't as cold. I had a great time with Boney and ArcFlash, it was somewhat like a winter bike-pack but we didn't have to carry all of the camping gear and only the food we immediately needed. This trip had me thinking of setting up some lesser outposts like a portable ice fishing hut with a stove or some type of heated fort like the Wreck.

Sunday morning headed out

Train Station in Moose Lake

Las Vegas ????

DeathRider..................................................out 

December 2017.........Random

Global Fat-Bike Day

 Looking back, December was kind of a strange month as far as the weather goes. It started somewhat warm , with Global Fat-Bike day. A couple of guys from the Penn Cycle Team (Vandy and Best in Schow) and myself led a river bottoms ride with some free food provided by Pat (owner) at the mid-way point.

off route....most people know where this is 

Way off route....what fat-bikes are made for 

Of course there was at least 1 camp-fire cook-out

Cannon River first weekend in December with Thor and my Bro 

  The next day was even warmer, a few of us did a short kayak ride down the Cannon and had the usual half-way lunch stop with a fire. The warmth of the day combined with the low angle of the sun felt odd...like it should be cold and snowy.

cliffs in the prairie of southern mn 

obligatory camp-fire lunch stop  

 1870....interesting 

many rides in the dark in Dec since the light fades by 4:30 pm

The Mayor crossing treacherous waters on our way to a cook-out 

Best in Schow....sandbar 

Swamp rides are good too when there is a lack of snow 

best creek ride ever...based on riding conditions...north shore rivers have better scenery but not as consistently ride-able 

   The snow never really came, but the bitter cold did. In the winter months I prefer to ride fat-bikes on hard packed snow and do some x-c skiing, but I've had too settle for some ice riding. Riding ice with a very small amount of snow is magical, one such day turned out to be the best creek ride I've ever had. Three of us ended up with about 16 miles on the creek but could have done 3 to 4 times that if we had an earlier start and a more ambitious plan. I'll be headed back to this one soon if conditions hold out.

ArcFlash

Thor

Fire was really nice on this cold day 

bye bye 

 I'm not going to mention the name of the creek but if you do a little digging and some exploring you should be able to find it or possibly better. Exploring is the best part, I don't want to ruin that for you.

D Rider.........................out

Osier Figure 8

This has become a bit of a back woods icon for me 

 Just before fall started settling in, Labor day weekend specifically, I put together a sub-24 bike-packing route on the north shore. I had hoped for a small group to join in, but apparently most people like to hang out with their families, grill food or get things ready for school the following week.

Typical northshore gravel... serene 

Also typical MMR...lots of puddles to keep things interesting and the the tires clean 

 ArcFlash , being my best adventuring friend, would be my companion for the outing. The ride was typical northern Minnesota,consisting of seldom visited gravel and minimum maintenance roads. The section I was most intrigued by when scouting weeks before was the railroad grade, this is also where we camped.

Early morning...don't like to get up at this time but I had to piss 

not your average campsite

Being surrounded mostly by swamp and trapped by ditches on each side full of deep water, finding fire wood was tough. water was questionable too...the non-moving water had an iridescent sheen on it's surface. Not as much a concern, it was dark as coffee due to tannin....it tasted fine and we didn't get sick 

   I called it the Osier 8 because of the route's likeness to a figure 8, made possible by the rail section. The ride went without a hitch, AF and I settled into a moderate pace and chatted the miles away, stopping for scenery, food, and piss breaks. Our route finished with 80 miles, 15 of which were pavement that could have been eliminated had we called our wives for a shuttle.

smoooooth 

back on the roads

 This was a little hefty for a loaded Moon Lander and stock Krampus but made it a bit more of an accomplishment and didn't burden our wives. I'd like to expand on the route some and utilize more of the tracks but will plan for a different weekend next time.

scouting in July...much more comfortable on a full sus fat-bike

 D Rider ....................................out