MIKE HALL, Adventure Sports, Travel, Overlanding, Backcountry, Avalanche, Snowmobile, Snowmobiling, Snowboard, Snowboarding, Sledboarding, Winter Fat Tire Mountain Biking, Mountain Biking, Ski Patrol, Motorcycle, BMW Adventure Motorcycling, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, Utah, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Jackman, Maine

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Singletrack Mountain Biking One Year Later / Now 26"/4" Pugsley / Then 29"/2.2" Salsa / Both Good Times

 Above / November 25, 2013 / Surly
Below / November 29, 2012 / Salsa
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Best time to be in the woods on a mountain bike, the Fall and at sundown, into the darkness. I'm riding a new bike this Fall. A Surly Pugsley. A bit of change after becoming accustomed to my 29er.

 The good and different. The Salsa with 29 inch wheels and 2.2" tires are great for rolling over obstacles and carrying your speed.

The Surly Pugsley with 26 inch wheels and 4" tires have a much larger contact patch so I feel the trail. The actual diameter is more like a 27.5 because of the large tires. I feel like I can ride it more like my motorcycle, lean it over and let the knobs grab the trail.
 Above / November 25, 2013 / Surly
Below / November 29, 2012 / Salsa


 At sundown, I pulled off the trail and rigged up my light system.

A helmet light and 2 handlebar mounted lights. I set up the whole system that I had in my backpack. Changed batteries and mounted the helmet light, using zip ties to secure it to the helmet. Mounted the handlebar lights, had a quick snack and 20 minutes later, I'm on my way in the darkness.
 The top picture is with a flash on my camera, the bottom picture is the view I have with my light system.

As I am riding, I use the head lamp to look ahead and around turns. The handlebar mounted lights light up the trail right in front of the bike. That is why it is a good idea to have both systems in place off road where the trail is twisty and you need to see around the corner.
Ride On!!

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Monday, November 11, 2013

Bicycling During October in Minnesota / 3rd Ride / Surly Pugsley Mountain Bike

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 This was the inaugural ride on the fatt tire mountain bike, the Surly Pugsley. With the 4 inch wide tires it rolls along like a motorcycle. This is going to be a very good fit for my type of riding which is tough terrain. I am in the exploring mode these days and I need a bike that can handle extreme conditions. This mountain bike rocks, check out the pics from 2 days of riding along the river...

 Froggy moving kind-a slow with the cold temperatures.




Day 2 of the Week-end




 Jeff Hall taking the Surly Pugsley for a spin.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

BMW R1200GS, KTM Adventure, Ducati Multistrada, Triumph Explorer & More!...

 Check out this video, awesome Alps roads on awesome Adventure motorcycles.


Some pictures of the past 2 years of riding a few different BMW GS 1200s 
 
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Friday, November 08, 2013

Motorcycling during October in Minnesota / 2nd Ride / Suzuki DRZ 400

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A shot of the dash on my new DRZ 400. With only 443 miles on the motorcycle, it's not even broke in yet. The Suzuki with a top speed of 90 mph is running at 65 without straining. 
 It was a good Fall day to ride the country roads that follow the Minnesota River. I did a similar ride the week before on the BMW. I was able to explore a bit more off-road with the smaller, lighter 400 Suzuki. The BMW weighs about 530 pounds with the Suzuki weighing about 300 pounds.

I hooked on behind 2 other motorcyclists after I gassed up on the way out to the river roads. One bike was a BMW 1200 RT and the other bike was a large Honda sport tourer. The county roads that we were traveling on had nice sweeping corners with speeds from 45 mph to about 70 mph. that was a good speed range for my Suzuki 400. As we dropped into the river valley the BMW was up front and handling the corners well. The big Honda on the other hand was a bit shaky through the corners. The last 2 corners were 90 degree S turns marked for 30 mph. I was familiar with this county road from riding it over the past 30 years at very rapid speeds. Well the Honda rider overcooked the second corner and dang near tossed his bike into the woods, swinging wide and barely keeping it upright. Amazing! I parted company at the next stop sign.   


Now I was on my own and I pulled off the pavement. It was good to get off-road and do a bit of hiking along the Minnesota River banks. Had a snack and energy drink. Something about hanging and exploring along rivers, goes back to Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer...Today the woods along the river were thick with the leaves of Fall. I found a singletrack trail that I rode along till I ran out of trail and turned around.  

 One last hike down to the river bank and see the sun shining off the trees in the late afternoon sun. Headed back to the pavement and into the river town. It was getting late in the day so it was best to keep riding and get further out into the country. This ride was kinda turning out like the ride on the BMW the week before. All is good.

So I headed for the gravel farm roads to the east of the river and put the hammer down. It is a thrill to pop the dirt bike up to high speeds and power slide through the corners, powering through the gears. After traveling cross-country and darkness setting in, it was time to pull off and regroup for the long ride home. Just pulled into a gravel road ditch along a plowed bean field.

I pulled out a snack and a bottle of water, I had about 50 miles to travel back home. The temperature was about 40 degrees so I would need some calories and need to be hydrated for a high speed run home. I put on my headlamp and pulled on a few more layers of clothes. As I am doing my thing, I see a flash of light up the road, now I am in the middle of corn and plowed fields, nothing around. I realized that someone was on the gravel road and heading my way. I had turned off my headlamp, and it was dark by then. The person got closer and I could just make out his shape in the dark, it was a fellow who had been bow hunting for deer in the woods a few hundred yards to the north of me. As he got to me he flashed his light at me... I'm sure he hasn't seen too many dudes standing in the dark in a road ditch with an enduro motorcycle with the temps around 40 degrees. We greeted each other somewhat guarded, it turned out that he was a local guy whose mom used to own the farm that he now owned. I believe that years ago, maybe 20 years ago that I had asked permission to hunt on their land. Wow! His truck was parked down the road along the corn field. It was a good chat there out in the dark along a gravel road.

This was a good adventure day and I still had a 50 mile ride home. I quickly got ready and rode up into the field and down into the ditch, popped up on the gravel road and sped east about 8 miles to the highway. Got on the highway and cranked it up, headed north 65-70 mph all the way home.                
Another 2 wheel adventure in October, about 125 miles this day...Ride On!!

Thursday, November 07, 2013

Motorcycling during October in Minnesota / 1st Ride / BMW 1200 GS

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Traveling the backroads along the Minnesota River in October on 2 wheels is as good as it gets...
 The theme in the Month of October is traveling and exploring the Minnesota River on 2 wheels. I am going to tell the story of 3 different 2 wheel adventures. The first ride was on the BMW 1200GS. This motorcycle is capable of transporting one down the road in comfort and at speed. With the knobbies it is able to get off the pavement and explore the gravel roads.  
 The BMW is not a trail bike, but with a bit of skill you can get off the road and explore. Keeping in mind that you are on a tall 530 pound motorcycle.
 It was a sunny, cool Fall day on this ride and I was in no hurry to leave the quiet River.
 



 A good day on the motorcycle with a mix of gravel and twisty pavement. Ended up about 50 miles south of the cities at sundown. With a quick change into warmer riding gear, the temps had dropped into the mid 30 degree range, I headed back on gravel roads in the dark. Intersected the highway and put the hammer down, clicked on the heated grips.

This is why Adventure Bikes are making their way into the motorcycling world. When one sees that gravel road, ya just turn off the pavement and go explore.
The view from the saddle...Ride On!