2 Wheel Adventures the Week of the 4th / Fat Tire Surly or Fat Tire BMW

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Good mountain bike riding on the Murphy trails. These are the trails you can ride all afternoon and get back to the truck and savor the ride. Eat a sandwich and take your time packing up. A good way to spend a day of my weekend.

 The more I ride the Pugsley, the more I enjoy the fat tires. Kinda like riding the Suzuki 400 with the big knobbies.

Riding the BMW 1200 GS on Northern Minnesota Backroads

 So much rain this season. Everything is extra green and growing. Even the beaver house is sporting a green mossy looking roof. The swamps and Beaver dammed flowages are right up to the edges of the roads or in some cases, flowing over the dirt roads.  

 Got back on some remote dirt roads in northern Minnesota and caught a glimpse of tracks. Cranked the big BMW over and backtracked to the tracks and found some good prints of a large Timber wolf track alongside a set of whitetail deer tracks...I set my x-large glove along side the tracks. These are a good size set of wolf tracks.

 The foliage along the dirt road is tall and thick. Saw this deer alongside the road and was able to capture it before it disappeared into the woods.

Just me and the deer flys along this stretch of backroad...sipping on a Rockstar energy drink and eating a Cliff Bar...

Good Times!

The Beemer and I packed up for the road. Temps were in the 80s, bought a new pair of Olympia riding pants. they are vented with good protection, padded knees and tough http://olympiamotosports.com/catalog/mens-airglide-3-mesh-tech-overpant-2/ . These pants are a real addition to my gear for adventure motorcycling.

Riding along Mille Lacs Lake, staying ahead of my shadow...

Mountain Biking Singletrack & Riding a BMW in the NorthStar Bicycle Festival

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Taking advantage of my Monday off I traveled south of the cities and hit the single track mountain bike trails. I'm still adjusting to the larger tires and these trails are great for working the bike and the legs. As the trail winds through the woods one climbs and drops down into the lowlands. I like the roots and rocks to create a good old singletrack ride.

It took a bit of riding through the woods before I felt smooth around the winding trail. After a good 1.75 hour ride I felt a bit worked but after a nice spin on the streets, the legs felt good.  

 I liked the jumbo mushrooms on the first loop, so I had to stop and do a photo. 

 This is my go-to favorite mountain bike trail. Classic singletrack...

 Riding Motorcycle Support for the "Nature Valley Bicycle Race"

 Riding south towards the town of Cannon Falls with a friend. He on a Ducati mutistrada and me on a BMW 1200 GS. The Ducata is a monster, with 150 horses and the Beemer is no slouch either with 125 horses in the the new liquid cooled.

 Ridin' with the Troopers today. We had 2 troopers at the front of the race and 1 at the rear along with several Sheriffs all through the pack. There were over 100 women racing in the bicycle race, the top Pros from the USA.

 Many big adventure motorcycles on road with the race today.

The start of the Mens road race, moments before the start.

Rollin' on Down the River Road...Beemer Style / Motorcycle Season Opener

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Rollin' into Spring with a Beemer and a bit of snow on the farm road. Feels good to be back in the saddle. It has been a good week of snowboarding, fat tire mountain biking and motorcycling.

 Could of used the knobbies on this little adventure. Could not resist the farm road that was still covered in snow and ice. Took a bit of effort to navigate the stretch of snow. All turned out good.

 This is the high water sign outside Shakopee,I remember as a kid viewing the floods from the high river bluffs with my Dad. That was a while ago...

Ride On!!

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!

BMW 1200 GS in It's Element / 40 Degrees, Rain and Wind / 150 Miles Today

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 It was good to pull off the gravel road and enjoy the late fall weather. The countryside is scenic and have a snack before I get back on my trip.

 The ride home was all in the dark, it really sharpens ones senses...

Maplelag Mountain Bike Race / Jeff Hall / BMW 1200GS

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At the starting line of the Maplelag Mountain Bike Race with Grandson and Jeff. Jeff Hall is racing on a new bike from "Foundry Mountain Bikes".

 The course had great singletrack with an old MTB school feel with rocks and ruts.

 The Bridge with a classic sign from a past Maplelag Race banner.

The Banner...That race was a UCI race that Jay Richards put on in the Spring of 2007 and Jeff won. It was a big win for Jeff as he garnered some important UCI points for his MTB World Cup season. Jeff finished the 2007 season in the top 10 in the USA Mountain Bike Standings and in the top 100 in the World MTB standings. He had a 7th place result at Snowmass, Colorado in the USA Mountain Bike Finals.

 My transportation around the course. 

 The finish. Jeff Hall and Brenden Moore, second and first place. They had a 9 minute gap on 3rd place.

They totally rocked on a very challenging and true mountain bike course. Two very talented and strong riders had a great day on the Maplelag Trails.

 Jeff Hall, Jake Richards and Eric Oftedahl, after the race gathering.

Maplelag is where Jeff and I met and invited Eric and his brother Sam to be part of the HALLN Mountain Bike Race Team several years ago. Mountain biking has been a great meeting and formed many friendships that have lasted for years. Mountain biking has been a great sport and activity for 30 years in my life...Good Times!!

 My biking was riding a BMW R1200GS for 260 miles round trip to the race and back. The Beemer was also handy for riding to several spots around the course to photo and hand up water bottles to Jeff.

Me and my Shadow, heading east back home after a full day at the Mountain Bike Race hanging with Jeff, Owen, Jay Richards and "Party on Hollywood"...Later.