Ten Below Zero / Winter Fat Tire Biking Around the Campfire / 2 A Day

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Pulled off the trail in the dark and Weez noticed the ghost rider right above us.

Riding a new trail system, Elm Creek. Very good trails, we were greeted with the local Coyote howling as we headed into the woods at sundown. Good ride this night on a twisty singletrack adventure. 

 The NightRider bike lights are awesome and brighten the night trails!

 Appropriate beer for the season, Winter is in full swing.

Monday Funday

 Set the alarm for 3:30am, laid there and had to think about this one... Get up, fix a quick breakfast and throw on my cold weather clothing. At the trailhead by 5:30am, the clock in my truck is 45 minutes ahead of time. The temp is correct at -10 degrees. This is exactly what I need to prepare for the conditions of Winter Fat Tire Bike Racing.

I manage Jeff Hall at the races, so to be able to deal with the conditions and function for extended periods of time is important. Sometimes it means up to 7 hours outside for the whole event. We had 2 races, one was -7 at the start and a 40 mile race was below 0 the whole day. Jeff won both of those races along with 4 other victories. I am involved because I love the adventure of extreme sports and winter fat tire biking is my go to winter adventure these days. That being said, in 11 days I am heading to Colorado for a backcountry snowshoe/snowboard trip. 4 days in a remote cabin in the mountains snowboarding...I like a challenge!  

 This is my challenge today, build a fire quickly as if I needed a survival fire. Good practice just in case one would need the heat to survive. One of the handy fire starters I carry in my pack is simply hand sanitizer gel. About a third of a small bottle will usually do the trick. Soon I have a nice warm fire to stand around.   

 Time to kick snow onto the fire and get on with my ride...the River trail is in very good mid-winter condition and the temps are about -10 degrees. The steam is hanging in the air over the open water sections of the river, beautiful morning to be out on the bike. Well worth the effort of getting out of bed early and seeing the sunrise. 

 Pulling off the trail and taking in the moment...

2 A Day Rides Today

 Enjoyed a hearty lunch and dropped one of my fat bikes off at my buddies shop @ Hollywood Cycles for a bit of professional care.

Then met Jeff back at the trailhead and went out for my second ride of the day. The temps had risen up to about 5 degrees, 15 degrees warmer then the morning ride. This was a more spirited ride with Jeff keeping me moving right along.

All in all a very good day on the LAMERE Bikes and about 8 hours out in the weather today, 2 good adventures.

Fat Tire On!!

Great Lakes Fat Bike Race Series / Solstice Chase

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Winter season has arrived with Team LAMERE Cycles fresh and excited to be rolling again. The morning dawned with 8 degrees and frozen trails with nary a trace of snow. Didn't matter, tires were selected with a set of 45NRTH 4" Dillinger tires mounted up. A studded on the front for cornering on the frozen ground and non-studded on the rear. We also had the Hitching Post Motorsports trailer on hand for our heated garage.

 I believe that the Solstice Chase Race had 290 entrants, a much larger field then last year.

The race took off at 10:00am with temps around 11 degrees, it was winter weather for sure, sans snow on the ground.

 The lead group whittled down to 3 riders within a few miles, this was a 42K distance, about 31 mile race.

 At the end of 1 lap, about 55 minutes the lead group was down to 2 riders, with Jeff Hall setting the pace. It stayed that way until Jeff dropped Adam Bergman on a climb on the 2nd of 2 laps.

From then on Jeff kept the pace high and finished in 1:45, about 5 minutes quicker then 2014 when he won. The gap to 2nd place was about 6 minutes. 

 Yours Truly, the LAMERE Team Manager got some miles in today, good woodsy course was I was able to see Jeff Hall at several locations. The race course crew was out roaring around the trail making sure the ribbons were up and the corners were marked, good stuff.

 Jeff crossing one of the several bridges and ridding his own race.

 Taking it home down the last hill and whooping it up!!

#1 Top Log for the first race of the Great Lakes Fat Bike Series.

Good to see all the Winter racers that we met last year and the Great crew from Cyclova XC "Thanks out to Frank Lundeen"

Race Fat Bike On!!

Firing Up The Fat Tire Bikes / Night Ride Along da Minnesota River Trail

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A winter night bike ride along the river is as good as it gets...the fresh snow is pure and the reflection give the trees ghostly images.

  This was a night of new snow during the day and a great time to spend, not only time on the bikes, but around a campfire. With the temperature hovering about 7 degrees, the warmth of the fire felt inviting.

  

Riding around the campfire...Ride on!

Fatbike Frozen Forty / Great Lakes Fat Bike Series / Fat Tire Mountain Bike Racing in Minnesota

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If the name fits, use it..."Fatbike Frozen Forty", frozen it was. The temperature at the start of the Frozen was -4 degrees with a breeze at 18 mph. Welcome to a Minnesota Winter challenge.

I prepared myself for the day as team manager for LAMERE Cycle Rider Jeff Hall, knowing that I would be out in the elements for about 8 hours. The goal is to keep the liquids, liquid. Insulated bottles along with a small soft insulated pack inside my normal backpack were the key to success.

The goal for Jeff Hall was to ride consistence laps, each lap was about 10 miles. he would need to be finished with 4 laps, 40 miles, in less than 4 hours. The cold was OK, Jeff commutes 5 days a week all year long, 50 miles round trip, with the coldest rides to work this year were about -16 or -17 degrees. It is just riding at race pace we had to factor in. With 3 races the past 3 weeks and Jeff winning 2 and finishing 2nd at the other race, we knew his speed would be good.

With the cold temps and distance, he started fast, but did not panic. He let the leaders shake it out. Brendan Moore and Justin Piontek dashed out to the lead. Jeff stalked them and turned up the power after an hour and went to work...picking off Justin and then it took Jeff about 2 hours to get Brendan in his sights. They rode together until Brendan had to stop for a bit, Jeff slowed down to let him get back on, but Brendan couldn't get back up. The last lap Jeff turned it up and won by a bit over 5 minutes. Brendan finished 2nd and the One and Only Hollywood Henderson powered into 3rd place to stand on the podium! Good day for LAMERE Cycles with 1st and 3rd places. Jp "Buzzy" LaMere finished a strong 13th place @ 4:08.That's damn good for the owner of his own bike company to get out and experience the real deal of Fat Tire Bike Racing in a Minnesota Winter. The Man can walk the walk and talk the talk...good to be part of an effort to build, race and adventure on an awesome bicycle.       

 The start was tight and fast with the exhaust hanging in the air. 40 miles of prime singletrack at -4 degrees, it will either kill ya or make ya stronger...

 Jeff pushing hard over two hours into the race. The bike was working perfect, tire selection was spot on and Jeff was feeling great.

 Brendan was pushing a fast pace and is always one of Jeff's top competition.

 Token photo of the team managers bike and pack on a twisty section out on the trail. I got in some good riding and was able to make contact with Jeff several times each lap. I enjoy being able to be a part of the race scene and get on my bike. It is all an adventure for me. 

 Jeff at the truck...40 miles, time 3:40. Time was a course record and another 1st place for the LAMERE Cycles. That is 4 wins and 1 second place during the Winter Fat Tire Race Season for Jeff Hall.

 The owner and the LAMERE Cycles top Man, Buzzy LaMere. Living the dream.

 Jeff welcoming his LAMERE teammate and top Hollywood Cycles rider / owner of Hollywood Cycles up to the podium. Hwood also walks the walk, pedals the bike.  

Brendan Moore 2nd, Jeff Hall 1st, Hollywood Henderson 3rd.

That's a frozen 40...Ride On!!

Great Lakes Fat Bike Series / Cuyuna Lakes Whiteout 2015 / Fat Tire Bike Racing

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The Fat Tire race season is in full swing with three weeks in a row of racing and 2-3 more races over the next 4 weeks.

This Saturday found us in Northern Minnesota at Crosby. "The Whiteout" is one of the Great Lakes Fat Bikes Series races. With a low snowpack, the race was sure to be fast and slick, 3 laps, a distance of 30k.

 Toeing the line with Hollywood, he jumps to his patented fast start.

 Good to see Jim McCarvill looking Pro with his DT Swiss kit.

 The youngster was rolling on his LAMERE bike.

 At the end of lap 1 Jeff and Jesse were out front and scorching the course. First lap was at about 24 minutes. Jeff had a 30 second gap at 20k and put the hammer down, riding his fastest lap over the final 10k.

 Jeff crossing the line at 1:11:52 over a distance of 30k, giving him his 3rd win in the Series.

 The sun was out at the end of the race and good to talk over the days events.

Ride On!!