Snowin'

It is once again upon us. The time of the season to start tracking the weather in the mountains. The snow has been falling out west. The temps are down in the teens up high, enabling the new snow to build. Another month and the powder turns begin, both on the sleds and the boards.

A few snow pics to set the mood and to check out the new sled. A 2008 700 Dragon, and also a few pics of the 800 RMK which has been replaced.

New 08 Dragon.

08 700 Dragon and 08 700 RMK both 155 tracks. All tucked away.

Now for some snow pics.

These pics motivate me to get my work-outs going in the gym and I'm getting out on the mountain bike as often as I can. Ya got to be ready for action when the season starts.

October 08

If you can guess what is going on here you get a cookie.

2nd guess.

If you guessed the Twin City Marathon you can go get a cookie.

This was our First Aid support camp at the Twin City Marathon, at the 21 mile point. The Angel and Devil were funny, yelling encouragement to the runners.

The next week-end, Oct 11 & 12

All 5 grandkids. The one in the high chair turned 1. Birthday party.

Grandkids and Great Grandparents.

The next day Oct. 12, Jeff's mountain bike race in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Jeff on the gas.

Don Edberg WORS Director, doing the race. I used to race against the dude back in the day.

Wisconsin Mountain Bike Racing in the fall, Sheboygan. This was a, get up at 3:30 AM, pick up Jeff. Drive 400 miles, spend 7 hours at the race. Drive 400 miles get home at 12:00 midnight, "Adventure". Good Times!! Have a beer, unload the truck and call it a full 22 hour day.

Minnesota Mountain Biking

The trail rushing by.

It was great to be mountain biking in the woods. 4 hours Saturday afternoon and evening. Got back to the truck around 8:45 PM. Rode in the fading daylight till it was fairly dark. I enjoy riding in the fading light as my eyes adjust to the darkness. I slow the pace and feel the trail and the woods close in. With complete darkness I attached the head lamp to my helmet and continued to the truck.

With a 3 hour ride on Sunday, this is time of the year to raise my fitness for the upcoming snowmobile and snowboard seasons. It is always great to be in the woods during the fall.

Gregg Bednorski

Gregg was killed in a cycling accident Thursday, Sept. 18, just 5 days after racing in the Chequamegon 40, Mountain Bike Race.

I remember Gregg from 1993, it was during my competitive mountain bike racing and my son Jeff Hall was 17 and starting his expert level racing. During those early years Wisconsin, had the WORS mountain bike races that we raced. That was where I first became aware of Gregg. I was battling with the likes of Curt Patak and Paul Gabril in the Veteran Expert class. Jeff was battling with Gregg Bednorski and some of the other top Wisconsin Expert racers. On the trips back home to Minnesota, we would talk over the race that day. Well that is when Greggs' name came up. Jeff would tell me about how he would be up front in the twisty single track. Then this guy would open up the jets on some of the sections. I remember telling Jeff at the young age of 17, that he should race hard and learn from that guy. Well that rider was Gregg, and Gregg went on to win the WORS Mountain Bike Race Series in 1993. If I remember correctly Gregg was also one of the top road racers in Wisconsin in the early 90s.

I never knew Gregg away from the bike racing, I may have never even talked to him. but it sounds like he touched many lives in his full life. Even up to the present I would see his name in the results of a race, usually in the Chequamegon as I look for familiar names from the past. It would bring back memories of those great days of early mountain bike racing, in the fall woods of Wisconsin. He made a difference. R.I.P.

For more info check my link to Skinnyski.

Feeding the Fat Tire 40 Man: Jeff Hall, 18 years of Fat Tire

The steed that which is to be unleashed upon the Wisconsin woodlands.

The portable work environment that follows the woodland steed to the predetermined adventure.

The leaders of the rampage. It takes 2 because of the potential pitfalls to be encountered en route to the destination.

The riders of the steeds will be required to mount upside down and roll over upright before proceeding.

A young man whose father wore this coat of arms... jersey, in woodland traverses with yours truly 2 decades previously.

Unleash the beast!!

A young adventurer will acompany me on my task of feeding the gladiator of the woodlands.

With the approach of the motorized leader, the gladiator will not be far behind. And he will be fed a bottle of PowerBar go juice.

The rewards to be bestowed upon the woodland gladiators that have navigated the harsh terrain at speeds with which few creatures before them, are to be able to stand upon log pedestals which once were among the woodlands that were conquered this day.

You too, young adventurer will some day have the mud of the forest upon your face and ride swiftly.

Scott Hebel and Jeff Hall.
The moral of the story is that these 2 riders could kick Norm's ass every which way, in any foray into the woods... but Norm still finished in 4th place right behind Scott Hebel, Jeff Hall and Gino that rainy day in Grand Marais, MN, in 1993, annddd right in front of the Short and Fat Champion, Jake Richards Dad, Jay Richards. Go Figure.

I never saw this ending coming. Jay ya gota be proud!! Good Times!!

Check out Jeff Hall Mountainbiking and Skinnyski links for more on the Chequamegon.

Formerly Norm.

Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival 2008

Traveling up to Hayward, Wisconsin later today for another Chequamegon Race. 40 miles of racing a mountain bike. Jeff averages 19 MPH during the race.

My job is, support of racer Jeff Hall. Prepare the mountain bike, hand up water bottles and anything else that comes up. I'll spend the race on the forest backroads intercepting the racers to hand up water bottles to Jeff. I will cover about 36 miles. The last 7 years I have used my enduro motorcycles, that is a blast. This year I'll use the truck.

I raced the 40 mile race from 1985 - 1993. It sure seemed like more mud back then... I raced both times Greg LeMond raced so that was a good time. Jeff was winning the Short and Fat back then, 2 times, in the early 90s. Jeff won the 40 mile race in 1995. Wow, it has been a hell of alot of mountain bike racing since then. Crazy!!

Have a great week-end. Good Times!!

Mike

Three Generations of "Hall" Mountain Bikers at the Buck Hill Race & Bike Patroling at 24 Hours of Afton

The start of the expert/pro class mountain bike race at Buck Hill, Minnesota. Jay Richards, Eric Oftedahl, Hollywood and Jeff Hall on the front line.

Team Manager Owen Hall is seen waiting for, racer dad, Jeff Hall to come cranking out of the woods.

O spied Jeff coming out of the woods.

Go Dad, go!!

O poses with yours truly "Grandpa" Hall. I raced in the first expert mountain bike race at Buck Hill back in the 1980s', some 20 years ago. That makes it 3 generations of Buck Hill racers, we have all won here, so it is always great come back.

I was talking to Jeff about when it was called Tour de Bump. They had a wooden ramp at the bottom of the hill that used to come out of the woods on the north side. Everyone was launched into the air as they hit that ramp, this was before suspension mountain bikes. We got major air, I remember the time Geno got so much air that he almost took out the banner that they had at the finish line. Heck, Channel 11 Sports was even there to shoot some sports footage of the race.

This week-end was the 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race at Afton Alps.

Weez and I signed up to bike patrol (provide first aid, we Ski Patrol at Afton Alps in the winter) at the Afton 24 Hour MTB Race, . The race was 24 hours long, we signed up for the 5:00PM - 12:00 midnight shift on Friday. It was good, only 3 injuries, minor scratches and bumps.

Afton Alps turned into a campground for all the racers, with campers and tents strewn all along the valley. After the sun went down there were campfires and grills started. There were headlamps bobbing in the darkness, it was a scene of stillness yet a constant movement of racers and people who were supporters. We also mounted the headlamps and got out to do some night riding. We rode up to the top of the resort where Red Bull had a lit-up tent, a nice fire going. We spent some time up there talking with a guy who had convinced Red Bull to be a part of the event. Everyone up there was having a great time cheering on the riders who would appear out of the darkness. The moon was out and it was a cool night, in the 60s'. It felt like an early fall night. Good Times!!

The Moon over Afton Alps at the Midnight Hour

Mt. Hood: July 08' #3

Another view of the Mt. Hood, in the clouds.

We had to go to the bandanna route with the intense sun on the snow. Our faces got sun burnt the first day on the snowboards.

The youngster boardin with the masters, Weez and I. Isaac in the white.

Carving down the mountain in July, yeah!!

The board room at Timberline Mountain Lodge. We stayed in one of the bunk rooms.

The last day in the mountains, Friday. Mountain biking and 4-wheeling on mountain jeep trails and hiking some great hiking trails. We accessed a mountain ridge east of Mt. Hood . We parked the truck on a cliff ledge and mountain biked to some switch-back hiking trails. Weez and I checked out the mountain flowers along the way. The last bike ride was climbing up a jeep trail that followed a cliff band. Then descended back down to the truck. Good times!!

There was still some snow in the deep forest, some we could ride through and some we had to hike-a-bike through.

That was it from Mt. Hood. This was our 3rd trip out here and it is always a thrill. It is the ultimate summer Adventure. With snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking and 4-wheeling on some great mountain terrain, every day was 18 hours of Good Times!!