Twisting Away a June Day on the Mountain Bike

CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE!!
A much needed mountain bike day. Boy, it sure seems like it was a long time ago when I was prepping Jeffs' bikes for the Nationals and World Cups.

It was a great day to be in the country and enjoying a good mountain bike experience. Giving the bike a quick tune up and gearing up. A 2 hour ride. The trails are all singletrack and constantly twisting up to the ridge tops and then weaving back down with a flow of smooth transitions from pedaling to standing. Keeping a rhythm, and checking out the surroundings as I move through the woods. Soaking it all in.

Some kind of animal that likes to eat hairy critters left his mark on the trail...

With the narrow trails and deep woods, it was bound to happen. I had a near collision with 2 deer on a twisty section of trail. As I approached a sharp corner, deer #1 exploded within inches of my right hand and luckily cut away from me and ran across behind me. Deer #2 shot across within 2-3 feet in front of me. After hitting a deer with my motorcycle last summer at 65 MPH, I guess it wouldn't have been that big of a deal to hit a deer at 15 MPH on my mountain bike...GOOD TIMES!!

In the Saddle

Got out on the mountain bike today. Just wanted to put some time in the saddle, see where my fitness is at. It was about 32 degrees when I started at about 3:15 PM, got home at 9:30, the temp was about 25 degrees. The last 4 hours were in the dark, I use a helmet light and a handle bar mounted light up front with 2 flashing red tail lights in the rear. Had a little bike maintenance about 2.5 hours into the ride, my crank arm started to work it's way off, that was easily fixed. The ride was a combo of pavement and off-road trails with single track mixed with some good hill climbs and hard pack gravel.

The whole idea was to be out and moving for a lengthy period of time. It gives the body a chance to shut down and have to start back up. It simulates a day in the mountains boarding or sledding, or a shift at the Ski Patrol. It's not about a race, it's about endurance. I got the hills in for the power and heart rate, but the mental and physical aspect of having to get the body warmed up after stopping is important. The hurry up, slow down, git it going again is good. During the ride I stopped and ate a quick supper and stopped to visit my parents. The last leg of the ride was about 9 miles. On the last leg I came upon 3 deer right off a gravel trail through the woods in the dark (you know how deer are attracted to me, check out the "DEAD DEER" on the labels)...

The layer system worked great, I was a little cool after the stops but warmed up without sweating too bad during the riding. I put on 1 more layer the last couple of hours as it cooled down. Brought 2 bottles of mix, I use a combination of protein and carbohydrate powder to keep my energy level up and 2 Power Bar gels. About half way through I ate a quick supper, I felt very good the last few miles. Try and get on the snowboard in the next day or two and then get out to Wyoming and Colorado and find some powder.

Sunday Ride Turns Ugly / Then Good Times Watching Dirt Bikers Playin in the Woods & Mud

Packed and ready to roll Northward.

The gear and a last minute cheese Burrito at 7:30AM Sunday.

At the St. Croix River north of Sandstone, MN, off Highway #23.

Took this picture as the river was so calm and the sun was in the eastern sky reflecting off the water. It appeared as a kaleidoscope effect. The morning was turning out to be a great ride adventure with plans to ride to Duluth and continue on up the North Shore of Lake Superior. Ride till 1 or 2PM and turn back and head south back towards home... Annnnyway, I don't do anything without a little adventure creeping in. Heading north on Highway #23.

THE DEER STORY

The next thing ya know ole Bambi is a dead deer. Hit that sucker at 64 MPH. There were some exciting moments for about 4 -5 seconds. It is amazing how it is that peoples lives can change in a matter of seconds by the reaction to outside forces and the way ones reactions take action, if you have to think about what to do next, it's all over, no do over, it ain't a video game.

I saw the deer bolt out of the trees, and at full speed proceeded to run up on the shoulder, it was at that point it decided its fate. Go right and get to frolic in the woods and have a good day or go left. The deer made a wrong decision, went left running at full speed, ran into my front tire, almost jerked the handlebars out of my hands. At that point I never let off the throttle, there was a fraction a second that I didn't know where the deer was after impact, then I ran over it's legs and I was still up on 2 wheels thinking, What the Hell!! I then hit my brakes and made a U-turn back. The deer was stone dead, laying in the middle of the lane, some fur wafting in the air.

This is where I go back to the reaction to an action. I surely didn't plan this, but I have gone over in my head a hundred times what to do if I am put in this situation. DO NOT SWERVE INTO DITCH OR WOODS, YOU WILL GO DOWN! Keep a grip on the bars, stay on the road, deal with the impact and ride it out if at all possible. Some bonehead local stopped and told me "ya gotta hit the brakes and swerve to try and miss the deer". I felt like punching him in the face. I'm standing there uninjured talking to him and deer is dead. I win. If you hit the brakes or swerve when you are about to collide, it will cause the front wheel to lose control and you are at that point screwed. You will be on the ground or off the road and into the trees. Now at the same time if you see up ahead a possibility of trouble, hey slow it down. Not when you are 15 yards away.

The impact blew apart my fairing, tore off my left turn signal, busted my fender, pushed my oil cooler back a bit and broke a few pieces. I checked the motorcycle out thoroughly and it was OK to ride, I cut the front of the fender off so as not to rub on the tire.

The deer impacted my front tire so hard that it had hair wedged in between the tire and the wheel, it was still there when I arrived home. This was the initial impact that almost wrenched the bars out of my hands. If that had happened it would not have turned out very good for me.

Deer crap splattered on the right side of the bike. There were hoof marks on the left side of the bike on the paint.

PLAN B / FORGET THE NORTH SHORE AND CHECK OUT A MOTORCYCLE RACE THAT WAS TAKING PLACE JUST DOWN THE ROAD OFF HIGHWAY #23 NEAR THE TOWN OF BRUNO, MN

This racing is what is called a Hair Scramble. They leave in waves with fastest groups of riders leaving first. They start out in the field and enter the woods and complete a 12 mile loop through the woods, much like a mountain bike race. Some riders do 1 lap and some do 3 laps. They are out there 1.5 hours to 3 hours. It is a very physical event needing strength and endurance.

Good air off the first double jump.

This is the son of a fellow I used to work with, Jake. I believe he got 3rd on this day. 3 laps in about 2.75 hours.

Met this guy and his son at the race. Great people, Dad supporting his 15 year old son having a great time. I have noticed that the motorized crowd, the mountain snowmobilers and the dirt bikers are usually good people having a good time.

It ended up a good day with about 290 miles on the motorcycle on Sunday. The beer tasted good when I got home.