Outta Bed by 4;30am to get the Fresh Snow / Minnesota River Trail

Fat Bike Fest at Hillside / Elk River, Minnesota / Refreeze @ -7 Degrees / Ice Age...

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Sunny and -7 at the start of a twisty, climbing and switch back fat bike race through about 16 miles of the the woods in Elk River. Ya race what Mother Nature gives ya...

Good turn-out on this Sunday morning, the crew kept the fires going all day.

 Strong field at the front. With the tight singletrack, a 5 bike group stayed together for the first lap at about 50 minutes. Jeff  Hall made his move at the start of the 2nd and final lap, charging ahead and leading into the singletrack.

The riders in the front group were all riding the twisty singletrack at a lively pace and came into the finish spread out a bit, but all putting in a good ride. Jeff finished 1st in 1:41.

Good talking to the racers and I met Jeff Young. It turns out that our paths had crossed back in the mid 1990's, 20 years ago. I worked for a company for 30 years and it turns out that Jeff Young worked summers at that company. Also by the jacket he was wearing, a "District 23 Hare Scrambles" jacket, off-road motorcycle racing. A good friend of mine, Craig was also an acquaintance of Jeff's. I have met many guys that over the years have ridden and /or raced both motorcycles and mountain bikes. Good people with like interests kinda revolve around the same worlds. It was good talking with Jeff Young who is a very good mountain biker.

 I had some good riding myself this day. Able to catch a few shots of Jeff Hall weaving through the woods. A real nice set of trails up here in the woods of Elk River.

Jeff Hall bringing it home in 1:41, at -7 degrees in the north woods of Minnesota. Six races on the LAMERE Cycles Fat Bike, 5 wins and 1 second place. This bike fits Jeff's riding and skills very well!

Ride on Fat Bike...

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!!

Old Time Minnesota Winter / Snow & Cold / -7 Degrees Tonight on the Pugsley Ride

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A Minnesota winter brunch. Wash it down with a Monster Zero and I'm ready to tackle the sub-zero temps comin' our way. The plan is a Pugsley MTB ride later today along the Minnesota River.

It sure is good having Sunday and Monday off all winter, I am making the most of the 2 days to have a couple adventures each week. In the month of January we have a backcountry snowshoe, snowboard trip into the mountains of Coloradohttp://www.huts.org/The_Huts/10th_mountain.html. The weekly snowboarding with Ski Patrol and a mountain bike ride day will enable me to be fit and ready for the trip.   

Starting out in the late afternoon daylight is nice to get into the ride. The temps are about 0 degrees when I leave the truck, I'm wondering if this is a good idea. It's cold.

I'm getting the clothing layers sorted out with the different temps. I need to be warm but not too warm, dry is good and I feel comfortable. The first 20 minutes are always tough on the fingers. My left hand was very cold, my pinky finger was numb, I started working it around in my glove and the feeling started coming back. When one leaves the warmth of the truck or house, your body has to adjust and get the circulation out to your extremities. It happens every time with extreme temperatures. Ya got to accept it, that's the way it is.    

 I've been wanting to practice my fire starting this winter and tonight was perfect for it. The temps are sub zero and I rode about 7 miles out to the middle of nowhere. took a couple breaks to adjust to the temps and adjust clothing. Plenty of dead wood along the river so I gathered a small amount and had at it. I had the fire going in just a few minutes. Hydrated up, had a protein bar and savored the solitude of the remote location along the river banks. Mission accomplished.

 Stopped on the narrow bridge and listened to the creek burbling below. The water is still running even at -7 degrees.

 This sign is at the top of a climb out of the river valley, took a short break, still 3 miles to the truck.

Stopped for one more break before the last 1.5 miles. My body has adjusted to the temps and I feel like I could ride all night. It's not a race, it's get back alive and feel the adventure...Ride On!!

Barefoot water skiing on the Mississippi River in February.wmv

I was hiking down by the Mississippi River in Minnesota with my Son and Grandkids when we spotted this boat speeding down the river toward us. The temps were about 22 degrees F on this morning.

Some Hardy Souls...GOOD TIMES!!