Jan-Feb 2018

  

End of January river hike on the North Shore ....meal over a fire is a good indicator that we had fun

 January and February were action packed, mostly racing fat-bikes.  Looking back now it was good to have them on my calendar as I really have not been into winter this year. The biggest change for me in a while was finding another place of employment. My previous job was great if all I wanted to do was make money.  Lots of overtime, very odd and random work hours as well as travel began taking the fun right out of my life.  I'm still trying to get out of my funk and move on from my previous mindset. I'm really looking forward to spring and some warm temps to reset things and get back on the right path.
The following is pretty much a standard photo dump with captions.

Super Y on rappel 

Big D ...most of the way down 

Found a new route to access the rappel of this river, utilizing two chutes that enter the canyon above and below the crux. works well for time constraints and a less physically committing day.  definitively required cramp-ons to enter and exit.  

that's my wife 

Another meal over a fire mid way on recon ski of north shore river......in a snow storm 

This was the only real outcrop, waterfall on this river. I was a little disappointed but that's what exploring entails sometimes. Glad I checked it out to satisfy curiosity....not going to tell you which river it is either, that would ruin your exploring   

Got out on snowmobiles quite a bit Jan-Feb

This was the day after a big snow storm...I went out the night before just as it was tapering. It was awesome, and since it was a Sunday no one was out and I had the fresh powder to myself 

This photo was taken on a monumental day....for years I have ridden a fat bike on the snowmobile trails out of Shakopee, some have been the hardest rides I've ever endured (early spring training) . Many times as I rode back to the vehicle after 4-5 hours on the bike I wished for a snowmobile so bad , to carry me the final miles which seemed to be hundreds at that moment.  I finally made my dream come true, riding as fast as possible the whole time with the thought of fuck you trail, take that....I win    

Big D about to descend 

Here is my one and only pic of a fat-bike race during Jan-Feb....I did 6 or 7 , I swear 

Super Y and I skied Pike Island quite a bit...it was our Thursday night thing 

This was the first day of my new job....i was so excited to be done with work at 3:15 instead of between 5 and 8 pm. Front wheel broke through, I launched forward landing on chest, feet dangling in the water....got moving and put in a couple more hours exploring 

Exploring 

Thinking I should have gone climbing there this winter 

NOT   Minnehaha Falls  

Oooops ...I guess I did get another pic of some racing...this was on Minnetonka...great time...wish I had done more of this weeknight series 

Told myself I wanted to paddle at least 1 time every month in 2018. This was the only open water I could think of , down near Hidden Falls in St Paul 

Hike up and down north shore river with The Legend and Yo Eddie on a race weekend ...Norpine fat-bike race in Lutsen Mn 

First time I've done 100 miles on a sled in like 20+ years...I was no match for the newer sled on the right 

Altai Hoks    Pickerel Lake St Paul  

This was another day after work when I was still trying to get my head around being done after only 8 hours 

Rocket launch...My dad went all out...invited 20 plus people and brought a bunch of food and snacks...It was one of the best days in Jan-Feb 

Before

After

This one made it up,and down, without incident 

G Man on the sled...this worked great at the launch for retrieving rockets out on the lake


D Rider .........................................................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