Fat Bike Season

So close, so far.

Fat bike season for me runs from October through February.

I like to get out a little early and resolve any issues that might be lingering on the bike while it is still semi-warm out. There is nothing worse than trying to adjust a derailleur in 15 degree weather. It also opens up some other riding options that would not really be fun on a standard MTB.

Once the snow flies the real riding begins. The trails at BC no longer allow biking (But they still allow every other activity)  so that means I either have to drive to Carver/Leb or blaze my own trail. There are plenty of woods in the area so I usually just find my own route.

My favorite fat bike picture ever.

I have a couple of things that I want to do this winter.

1. Ride the creek from McKnight to the lower lot. On the upper half there are a few small drops that are easily manageable, but on the lower half there are some bigger, 3 tier drops that I think I will have to ride around unless there is a ton of snow.

The waters a little too gross for me to do this in the summer

2.    Find a route to Carver that covers as much woods as possible. There's a nice plot of land that has some small, but steep elevation changes and has a nice wide trail that goes through some of the woods. From what I can tell it only gets used by locals walking their dogs.

Enter on Henry Lane

3.   Get to know Mounds Park a little better, clear some downed trees or create ride arounds, blaze some trails to connect things, and get ready for some hard training once conditions permit.

Old trails, fun times.

Quick note: I upload photos for my posts before I write anything from my phone. The blogger app doesn't allow you to "Save as Draft" (It used to) So if you just see pictures, it means that I haven't had a chance to get on blogger and revert it back to draft.

Army vs. Navy

This past weekend I head to Philadelphia for my second trip to the Arny vs. Navy game. My good buddy Dave is a Naval Academy graduate and gets some premo seats for the game.

I flight was to leave at 3:50 on Friday afternoon headed for Chicago. There were issues with the plane after we boarded and we had to get off and were told it would be several hours before the plane was repaired. I got out my phone and call United right away and I was sitting on a  plane headed to Charlotte within 10 minutes. It worked out the best it could given the situation. I ended up arriving to Philadelphia two hours later than expected, but no big deal.



Wright Brothers first aircraft!



I woke up early Saturday morning, ate some breakfast and started getting ready for the game. By 11 we were in a hotel bar  waiting for a couple people and drinking some beers. Philly's craft beer selection is no where near what we have here in MN. I ordered an I.P.A. that I had never heard of but was not impressed. I saw that they had cans of Dale's Pale Ale in the fridge and went with that for the rest of the time.

Heavy Seas Loose Cannon

We caught the subway to the game and were in our seats in no time taking in the pre-game festivities. Philly has a great set up to get to and from a sporting event. All 3 stadiums are right next to each other, with plenty of parking if you choose to drive. The subway was fast and very efficient and only cost $3.10 round trip. I wish we had this sort of set up in MN. I would go to a lot more games.

The Secretary of the Navy stopped by to welcome me to the game.

 

For those unfamiliar, Navy has won for 10 straight years. Many of the years have been blowouts but Army had a fairly decent team this year. Both teams had beaten Air Force so for the first time since 2005 the Commander in Chiefs trophy was up for grabs at the game. As with both these teams there was a lot of run plays and little passing. The score was tied 10-10 going into the half and you could see Army gaining some momentum. Army kicked a field goal in the 3rd quarter and held on to the lead for a long time. Navy finally put a good drive together capped of by a long pass and a 12 yard run on the following play for a TD with 4:41 to play. Army put together a great drive but fumbled on the Navy 14 with 1:14 to play. Not the prettiest win, but we'll take 11 in a row. 

Another win

View exiting the subway

The following morning I had a run planned out that would take me to the Liberty Bell and to the Philadelphia Art Museum to run the famous "Rocky Steps"

I got outside and it was raining pretty good, but I decided to make a go of it. I started on my pre-planned route and when I got to where I thought the Liberty Bell was realized that it was the Liberty Bell Center. Fuck google. I then backtracked to try and find it but was never able to. Turns out I ran right by it. So I headed towards the museum. After another mile my phone inexplicably died and now I had no music or hard directions in case I got lost again. I decided to keep heading in the general direction of the museum and knew that I would eventually run into it. I was beginning to feel some knee pain for all the stopping and starting at crosswalks and trying to figure out where to go. At one stop I felt a twinge and decided that it would be best just to head back to the hotel. I was defeated. I ran with a slight limp for another mile and was really bummed. It ended up being about a 4 mile run and I got to see some cool buildings, but nothing that I intended to see. I will try again next year and plan things out a little better. Hopefully the weather will cooperate as well.

Ben Franklin is buried here.

Heading home I knew that there was a ton of snow, but United kept telling me that the flight was on time. Once I got to Chicago the flight was delayed by 20 minutes, then a hour.
There was 45 people on the standby list and some people had waited through 4 flights. I bet most won't be back till today. I just sat and enjoyed watching the Packer Lions game was on TV while waiting to board. I was happy to be home around 10:45pm and was semi-excited to see all the snow.

I'm going to have to get out on the fat bike soon and pack some rouge local trails...