F150 EcoBoost Road Trip / 1 Day 800 Miles Round Trip to Retreive a Yamaha

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I am really happy with my 2011 Ford F150 EcoBoost. A couple snapshots of real life mpg, 17.5 and up to 17.6 mpg. The mpg is acually about 5%  better than the computer reads because of the larger BFG tires that are on the truck (285/70/17 @ 33 inches tall). This engine makes it's max torque at 2500 rpm (420 ft pounds), so running at 70 mph is effortless along with it's 365 hp.

 This was the temp, 102, while I was loading the motorcycle in the back of the truck. I worked up a very good sweat needless to say. The ice cold Rock Star Energy drink in my cooler sure tasted great when I got on the road towards home. My truck also has the cooled leather seats...wow, nice feature on a day like this.

   A bit of damage on the left side of the Yamaha.

Minnesota North Woods Mountain/Swamp Biking

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The first section of the fire road was washed out. With a mountain bike it just means a bit of hike a bike action.

 A bit of over-flow swamp.

 A larger bit of over-flow swamp. 

 I stayed in the right lane because of the high speed fire road speed limit. Good humor to see a speed limit sign 3 miles deep in the woods.

 Hiking through another swamp.

Back at the truck after a good day of north woods adventure mountain biking.

Mountain Mud Biking

Mountain Mud Biking 2

Riding the Salsa Down by the River

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I really like riding my old school rigid mountain bike. The big difference from old time mountain biking is the 29 inch wheels that I'm rolling on. With no shocks I tend to pick the best line to roll through the rough stuff...picking a good line on the trail as we used to say.

Down by the river...

A week ago the river was up to these trees.

A little dirt on the tires...

A Bit of Mountain Biking, River Riding & Buggering this Week

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It was great to get out in the woods and wind through the singletrack.

 Nine inches of rain in the past 2 weeks pushed the Mississippi River over it's banks.

 Took the little man on a bugger ride down by the river. We got caught in a rainstorm on the way back to the truck. Zippered the clear plastic cover over the Burley and put on my rainsuit and had a little adventure that day.

 A bit of lunch down by the river.

The little man caught a nap in the Burley during the rainstorm on the hike back...

GOOD TIMES!!

Day 2 of the Bozeman Montana Bike Trip

 

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Second day of riding up the Highlite Canyon Road. We went further up today and arrived at the reservoir about 8 miles up the road. The views opened up to some impressive mountains, one of them being Blackmore Mountain. Blackmore Mountain is a destination for some backcountry skiing and snowboarding. This trip was a great opportunity to explore areas south of Bozeman for future winter backcountry snowboard trips.

 

It was about an hour climb to reach the reservoir.

Good Times on the descent back to the trailhead after an hour of riding up the canyon!

Bozeman Montana Mountain Bike Trip

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 This is a quick 3 day trip out to Montana and back. Mountain biked up an area call Highlite Canyon, south of Bozeman.

 It was 35 degrees when we arrived back at the car.