Summer 2014

I haven't had a real post since mid- June. I would write and then proof read it and not like the way it came out. It was too serious. It didn't represent my true feelings. I am much more interested in having a good time and hanging out with people than I am about how well I performed or what was going through my head while riding and I don't think I did a good job of conveying that. Onward.

Summer finally arrived and it has been a whirlwind.

Cheq 100k - Had a great time. Course was tough. I was doing well, got a bit lost at one point, got back on course. Suffered after the 100M/100k split to the finish. Hung out for quite a while afterwards and had some beers and pizza. Highlight of the day was Todd finishing the 100M on his 5th attempt.

The Lutsen 99er was the next weekend and was an awesome time. Think Heck of the North times 5.

July was filled with wedding planning and lacrosse. I think I rode my bike twice. I have been getting to the gym a lot though, so not a big deal.

Cooper and I started doing a lot more fishing. My Dad gave Cooper a pole over the 4th and I grabbed my old fly pole. We've been fishing about 2-3 times a week since.

St. Croix

It has become the perfect time filler. If we have a free hour or two we go fishing. So far we have been to Lily Lake in Stillwater, Battle Creek and Powers Lake in Woodbury, The St. Croix beach by our house and along the King Plant outlet.

Biggest catch of the year

Our favorite is Lily Lake and it is only a 5 minute drive from the house. Cooper is into catching bass and Lily has some close to the shore.

First cast!

I have been working on my casting form. It's not easy. If I have the wind to my back I look like a pro. If it is coming from anywhere else I look like the beginner I am. There are a TON of small panfish at Lily. There are times where my fly is in the water for a split second and already gets a strike.

Not too bad from the boat launch

It can get annoying when I am trying to work up to longer casts. Cooper has the biggest catch of the year so far. A nice size large mouth bass. I am in 2nd with a large mouth and Rory is in 3rd with a good size perch. This Sunday I think I am going to go out to River Falls and try my luck for some trout on the Kinnickinnic river.

Typical Lily fish

The wedding was about 2 weeks ago and went great. I think everyone had a good time.I was very nervous about how it was all going to go off, but from my point of view it went smoothly.

After the wedding we went to the Dells for 3 days and stayed at our favorite spot, The Wilderness. I love that place. We've tried them all, and the Wilderness is hands down our families favorite. Going back again next year. That was the "Family Honeymoon". We just booked our "Real Honeymoon" and will be going to the Dominican Republic at the end of January. Should be a fantastic time.

Diana and I also finished our 2nd Half Marathon. This year we did the Gopher to Badger race. It started at the Washington County Fairgrounds and ended in North Hudson. Overall I'd say it was a little easier than the first, but just a little. I don't run very often so my feet started to swell and gave me some trouble but nothing that I couldn't tolerate. I didn't walk till mile 7 this year. Then I would run for about 3/4 of a mile and then walk for 10 seconds. This seemed to work out pretty well.

$20 for the .jpg? Nah, this will do.

For the past week and a half we have been in a bit of a lull. It was much needed though.

Tonight Cooper starts football and next Monday Rory starts soccer and gymnastics. Cooper's practices are in the Afton area so I am going to take advantage of that and ride while he is practicing. Hopefully it will work out well.

In September I will be racing in my first Fat Tire 40. Should be an interesting experience. Then at the beginning of October will be the Heck of the North.

 2014 has been quite a year. It's made me think about getting a Go Pro. I don't really have an interest in watching individual videos of things I film, but I think a Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sept, Oct-Dec video as well as a year video would be pretty cool.

Lutsen 99er

(Very late post. I was waiting for pictures, but they were very protected. Not even worth a screen grab.)

I've known for some time that LifeTime puts on great events but had not participated in one since Leadville 2011. I heard about the 99er it's first year but since it fell on the same day as the Chequemegon 100 I never considered it. This year I saw an ad for it and realized that they were on different weekends. I was in.

The event has gotten huge. I think there were 1500 people there between the 3 distances (19,39,99). The vibe was great as well. You often hear about how the gravel races are so relaxed, and the 99er had the same feel. I didn't see anyone sprinting down the hill at the beginning. Everyone was keeping it under 15mph just as asked and not a lot of sprinting once we got to 61 either. Once we turned up Caribou people hit the gas. Myself included.

The first climb was not that bad. I like to climb though, so that probably has something to do with it. About 6 miles in I could still see the leaders about 300 yards in front of me, soon after we went around a corner and they were completely out of sight. They must have finally felt warmed up enough.

We then made a right on to a loose gravel road and the pace picked up. I was hanging in and feeling good. I even bunny hopped a couple puddles which drew a few smiles. However, those would be the only ones I hopped. I rode through the other 87 or so others.

We then turned on to a snowmobile trail and the unpredictable fun began. There was sharp ups and downs, misc. rocks, puddles, and mud. It was fun at first, but did get a little old. Once I unlocked my fork it made for an easier ride. Side note: At about the 10 mile mark there was a young guy on the side of the trail asking for a CO2. I'm usually pretty generous, but fuck that. You don't bring ANYTHING to inflate a flat on a 99 mile  ride you deserve to hang out with the mosquitoes.

At about mile 22 we passed the first aid station and did our first of 2 laps. There were some pretty cool sections of trail in this loop. There was a small creek crossing and a section that seemed as if we were riding through a tunnel in the forest. Coming out of the 2nd lap I stopped at the aid station and got a banana, half a PB&J, a honey stinger waffle, and refilled both my bottles. I headed down the road eating it all and enjoying the hard packed dirt road. I caught up to someone and asked them if they knew how the remainder of the course was. they told me that it was all roads to the finish. Should be much faster than the first half. They were right, but not a lot faster, nor easy. The heavy overnight rains had created massive puddles that seemed to come up about every 100 feet. They were relentless. Some you could barrel through, some you had to pedal through and they all had mud on the other side. It was just a mess.

At some point (Mile 75?) we got out of that and it was all roads till the end. Very enjoyable, very scenic. I just rode my own pace and took it all in. I was shooting for under 7h30m and knew that was in sight if I kept up a 15mph pace. The last mile or so was old MTB trails which were very fun. There was a couple big rocky climbs and a nice downhill as well. When I popped out of the woods I could hear music and knew the end was near. It ended up being a couple miles short of 99, but I was happy to be done.

Great race. I'll be back next year.