Four Wheel Camper Adventure on da Lake Superior North Shore

Five day camping trip, the final 3 days I was dispersed camped southwest of Silver Bay, Minnesota. Started out the 3rd day of the trip scouting off forest roads for a suitable pulloff for my pickup / Four Wheel Camper and trailer. 

As luck would have it, I found 2 locations. Drove the rig down a spur forest road and was able to back the trailer onto a smaller, somewhat overgrown forest road.

One day on the 300 KLX. Took off for the day in the rain. It actually makes it easier to gear up for the rain from the get go. Hooked on to Highway #1 that heads north towards Ely. Steady rain most of the day. Traveled the highway scouting for some likely forest roads. Found a 2 track road that led to a remote lake. The trail meandered up and down until it narrowed into a single trail. Crossed a creek and got bogged down a bit in a muddy low area. Got out of the bog, then came upon a very cool forest lake where the trail ended.

Back at camp with a good day of exploring on the moto. About 110 miles of pavement, gravel forest roads and a couple good forest trails. Good time adventure!

Cover up

RZR day.

Back er in about 150 yards off the spur trail. Good remote camp for 3 days. 

My “Frogg Togg” rain suit, good for rain, bugs and dust.

Gotta check out Lake Superior. Skip a few rocks, climb around a few rocks, listening to the waves on the rocks. Lake Superior Rocks!

Ride on!
 

Kicking the New Year 2017 off on the Fat Bikes / Norpine Fat Bike Classic / Lutsen Minnesota

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A January trip up to Cuyuna for some Fat Tire Biking. The map above is just a section of the entire area.

The trails wind around and alongside the old mining lakes in the Crosby, Minnesota area. I have ridden the trails in the Summer and Fall. The Winter is a great time to be in the woods.

Trails were in very good condition with a fresh coating of snow to cover most of the icy surface. The whole state of Minnesota received rain just after Christmas, then a cold snap moved in from the north and froze all the trails with a coating of pure ice. All our fat bikes are outfitted with 45NTH studded tires, even with that setup it was a bit sketchy for a week or so. The snow gave us a good surface this trip, yet One still needed to be alert for the patches of ice.

Good view of one of the mine lakes.

Feeling the trail...

Some sweet switchbacks gave me a good view from above.

Timed it right for several hours of exploring and checking out the different loops on the bikes as the sun set in the west. This was one of the full day adventures that started about 9:00am and arriving home at 11:30pm. We drove 360 miles round trip, rode for 3 hours. Drove further up the icy backroads to a burger joint in Cross Lake. Then to top it off, we made the drive to the family cabin. We hiked around the cabin and checked out the frozen lake. Then drove the 180 miles home.

This turned out to be a full on adventure day.

Great Lakes Fat Bike Race Series / Lutsen MN

The map is the Fat Tire Bike race course up at Lutsen, Minnesota.

Riders will be riding 24 miles of cross-country ski trails this day. This was full on winter, fresh groomed snow with overnight temps at -12 degrees racing. It was an early -5 degree, 8:00am start. That meant I set the alarm for 4:00am, got up and let Jeff sleep till 4:30. We were staying in a condo that was a stones throw from Lake Superior... yeah the big Great Lake. Awesome!  

Two of the Midwest Mountain Bike Legends...Geno Oberpriller and Jeff Hall.

I met Geno back in about 1986. Jeff was 10 years old. I was doing the racing back then...

About 4 miles into the race with Jeff riding solid in the 1st chase group. A very loaded field in the front of the race. The trail was in very good condition. It was cold smoke snow this day at -5...

Jeff's son, my Grandson Owen and I chased the racers with the truck as they raced in the woods we were able to intercept them several times.

Owen is on the side of the course to hand up a water bottle. This was as Jeff was heading back to the finish, about 6 miles left. Still riding solid, didn't have the jump in his legs to win this day. Jeff was in 5th at this point and this is how he would finish the race, 5th place.

Owen was there to give his Dad a tap on his head to greet him at the finish. Tough conditions for all the racers with the temps. The good part was a great job of groomed trails.

After race time, the 3 Hall guys scrambling around on the rocks along the shore of Lake Superior. 3 generations of Halls having a good time at Lutsen. I am a lucky Man to have these adventures.

Above, Jeff and yours truly...below Owen and me hanging. Still about -4 degrees.

The image of Owen on the ice rocks along the shore of "Gitche Gumee" is priceless...

Adventure on!

Lutsen 99er Mountain Bike Race Recap / Better Late than Never / June 2015

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The journey to the shores of Gichigami for the epic "Lutsen 99er" includes a stop for the pre-race dinner at the Subway in Two Harbors.

This is our 2nd trip to travel 99 miles through the North Shore woods, Jeff on his LAMERE fat tire bike and me on my trusty Suzuki DRZ 400 Enduro. In 2014 Jeff finished 2nd and he learned about pushing himself for over 5 hours at race pace.

On our journey in June of 2015 we added Jeff's son Owen to the posse, teaching him about the road trip life of a mountain bike racer. Such as sleeping on the floor of the hotel room and hanging out.

 At 5:45am this is the scene from the parking lot of our hotel on the shores of Lake Superior...classic.

 Fast forward to the Lutsen 99er mountain bike race. A bit of a blur to organize Jeff's bike and make contact with the organizer, Adam. I help out with being one of the lead motos on my DRZ 400 motorcycle. There are 2 other motos leading the long race and we communicate to keep the race on course out front. 

  This is the first time I see Jeff and he's out front 7 or 8 miles into the race. Couldn't believe there wasn't a group on his wheel. Several hundred racers are behind him.

 Hammer time!

 I took a break at about the 20 mile mark because I only have enough gas to go about 95 miles on my full tank, so I sat out for a 10 mile loop. This is where Jeff pops out of the woods with a moto in the lead and he is still alone out front. I am guessing that he was off the front for about 40 miles.

 A ride through the North woods, averaging 17.18 for 99 miles...dang.

 Steve Tilford and his buddy that he brought up from Kansas finally caught Jeff after 40 miles.

 Valuable lesson for the Team LAMERE rider here, was that he could ride solo for 40 miles and 3 months later at the Big One...Chequamegon 40 he put this lesson into action!

 Chasing hard and not giving up, about 30 miles left.

 Big Man damn near grabbed 2nd, with 6 miles left Jeff was down by 3.5 minutes. At the end, the gap was 6 seconds back from 2nd at the finish after a huge push in the final singletrack section.

3rd place with a race time...5:45:51 @ an average of 17.18 mph for 99 miles off road. 462 racers in the Lutsen 99 mile race.

 2/3 of the 99er posse...Jeff and son Owen.

 Moto Mike and Mountain Man Jeff.

 Our ole Buddy, Tim McGrath... Finish Line Finder and the Man that gave me a bike jersey back in 1985. The rest is history, Jeff got his Finders jersey in 1989...Finish Line Finders!

Good mountain bike race road trip and to share it with Owen, priceless. Telling him stories from the old days of racing was fun. Of course we topped off the race day with pizzas at Sven and Oles in Grand Marais and skipping rocks into Lake Superior after dinner was classic.

Ride On!! 

Lutsen 99er / Mountain Bike Marathon Race 2014

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On the road to the Lutsen 99er Mountain Bike Race, in Two Harbors, MN. Subway pre-race dinner @ 10:30pm Friday night. Still have about 50 miles to drive, foggy, with very low visibility made the last 50 miles interesting.

I got to sleep on a couch @ about 1:30am, up @ 4:30am, race start @ 7:30am. 1000 Mountain Bike Racers.
Ready for a big day on the 400 Suzuki chasing Jeff on his mountain bike for 99 miles.

 The fog was thick off Lake Superior as the 1000 mountain bike racers left Lutsen Resort and rode down to highway 61 heading north a few miles and turning up a pavement section climb before turning off on to gravel.

 The riders were still in the fog for the climb up away from Lake Superior. The front of the pack began to spread out and Jeff Hall was right up front. Looking clean and fresh as the legs warmed up, I think he was surprised that I was coming up alongside on the Suzuki. 

This is Jeff Hall in the black and white with the Foundry kit.

 I came up alongside Richard on his dirt bike up front, he was leading the 39 mile race. His brother was racing the 39 mile mountain bike race. I hooked up with Jesse and Blake as we were out front of the 99 mile race. These guys looked ready to rock with their KTMs, muddy and all knobbied up. This was going to be an adventure.

After riding a moto in the North Star Road Bike Race 2 weeks ago, I have had some awesome motorcycle rides amongst bicycle racers...It is great to see the races develop out on the courses. I was riding a BMW 1200GS at the road races and I'm riding my Suzuki 400 all knobbied up for this Lutsen 99er. The road races were about 98 and 84 miles. This mountain bike race is 99 miles off-road. Jeff averaged 16.85 mph for 99 miles off-road, with a time of 5:52:31. The first 4 finishers were 15 minutes ahead of 5th place. They were rocking up there!   

 Early in the race, still a bit of fog and a good size pack.

 On the narrower stretches several miles into the race the front pack whittled down and the tempo started to pick up...the race was on.

 Pacing off the front with Jesse we had to on occasions, gently have drivers pull over to the side of the dirt roads to let the racers by. As we rode into the aid stations we could give updates and make sure that the racers stayed on course.

 When one is on the bike for over 5 hours it is important to hydrate and eat, on the mountain bike or a dirt bike. Jeff fastened a small pouch on the front of his jersey. He carried everything from turkey jerky, power bars to gel packets. I carried a couple cans of "Rock Star Zero" energy drinks along with a leftover subway ham sandwich and of course several Power Bars. Gotta eat and drink to keep maximum power. 

 It was out on the outer double loop on the second go round that Jeff decided to put the hammer down and thin the pack of about 11 riders to the final 4 racers. That section of the course suited Jeff as it was a bit more rugged and narrow. Jeff is out front in top photo and 3rd, drinking in the lower photo. 

 This was shortly before Jeff put on a push to split the group.

Jeff is #205. The final 4 were sorted out and out front all the way to the finish for the next 50 miles.

 One of the motos chasing me through the woods ahead of the racers...

 The guys are skirting some puddles and roaring through the middle of some that span the whole road. They were really moving now.

 The water was flowing across the trail as there was a large beaver dam along the left side of the photo.

The pictures say it all...Hammer!

 It all comes down to this sign, 10 miles to go after 89 miles. Either the body has it or ya just survive...They were still together, the pack of 4, Jeff Hall, Michael Naughton, Garth Prosser and Kasey Bacso. The riders had the hammer down and as they rode into the muddy bog section. Jeff hit it hard, Garth and Kasey dropped off the back. Jeff and Michael pulled away with Jeff gaining a small gap. Michael put on a surge and Jeff couldn't match it. Michael crossed the line in first with Jeff 2nd.

 Jeff Hall @ 2nd place @ 5:52:31 @ 16.85mph average speed / 99 mile race shortened about 3 miles.

 Cracking a smile after a ride through the North Shore Forest on 2 wheels.

 I came up on a racer with a "Finish Line Finders" jersey, it was long time team member Tim McGrath. I was on my motorcycle with my helmet and goggles on so Tim did not recognize me right away but I yelled out my name and he gave me a high 5. Good to see Tim out there racing.

 Podium shot / 1st: Michael Noughton @ 5:51:49 / 2nd: Jeff Hall @ 5;52:31 / 3rd: Garth Prosser @ 5:52:43 and Kasey Bacso not shown, who earned 4th and was in the lead pack till a few miles out.

All the bikes the morning of the race before unloading to have an adventure in the the Minnesota North Shore Forest. Total of 36 hours, traveled 700 miles by truck, bike and motorcycle. 3.5 hours of sleep...back home by 3:00am Sunday.

Ride On!!