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!! 

Recap of the 2015 Mountain Bike Race Season with Jeff Hall and Team LAMERE Cycles

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Catching a bit of the last snow in the Minnesota River Valley with Jeff on his LAMERE  Cycle after a full winter of racing the fat tire bike.

 The opening race of the summer season was at the Decorah Time Trial...good competition, Jeff finished 2nd behind Brian Eppen.

 The opening Minnesota Mountain Bike Race Series took place at Buck Hill... Jeff won on his mid-fat LAMERE bike.

 Buck Hill Race

 St Croix Falls Race

The race at St. Croix Falls was a battle with Jesse Lalonde edging Jeff out at the line... Fun race hanging with Owen, Ava and Theo while Jeff raced.

  Mt. Kato Race

JP LaMere, owner of LAMERE Cycles was there with plenty of bikes and put in a good effort during his race. He is out there putting his bike through the paces. JP is out riding and testing his product every week.

 A bit of help from Jeff's son Owen on the bottle hand-ups, Owen raced in the morning and is picking up this thing they call Mountain Bike Racing...

 Jeff and the semi-fat was on the top step again at Mt Kato.

 Hollywood, Kristy and Rosco rocking in their Custom Hollywood Cycles Van...

 Elk River Race

 Choose your weapon...26", 27.5"or 29" tires of different widths. The 29er was the winner for Jeff at the Elk River Mountain Bike Race.

 My transportation to several of the summer Mountain bike races. BMW 1200 GS Adventure with my LAMERE Cycles mounted up. I am riding a 190 frame with 5" tires front and rear on my LAMERE Cycle.

 Elk River Race

 Owen had a good week-end at Elk River racing his mountain bike, earning a 2nd and 3rd place in his two races.

Good times hanging out with Owen at the races.

This is a quick recap of the 2015 summer Mountain Bike Racing Season through mid summer, more to come and I'll catch up with the winter season approaching quickly.

Ride On!!

Good Week-end on Two Wheels / BMW 1200 GS Adventure / Fat Tire Bike

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Day 1

 170 miles of gravel roads...

Day 2
 Following the banks of the Mississippi River on the fat tires.

 Day 3
A long week-end with a good night ride along the Mississippi River.

Ridin' on 2 Wheels!

Fat Bike Birkie 2015 - 47K Lead Pack / Jeff Hall #49 on LAMERE Cycles / 4th place - 800 Riders / National Fat Bike Championship Race

US National Fat Bike Championship Race / Fat Bike Birkie 2015 / Great Lakes Fat Bike Series

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Team LAMERE Cycles is rolling down the road in style with the new van just in time for the Fat Bike Birkie. Jeff Hall is rolling down the trail on his LAMERE Fat Bike and HED Wheels.  

 The starting line is loaded Ned Overend, Brendan Moore, Jesse LaLonde, Jeff Hall, Will Ross, Jenna Reinhartand, April Morgan and Diana McFaddon.

 JP "Buzzy" LaMere was rolling with the Lauf Fork on his LAMERE Fat Bike, having a good ole time in the North woods of Wisconsin. Buzzy had a very good ride today.

 Hollywood would ride to a 14th place today.

 Close to 800 riders out in the woods of the Fat Bike Birkie, good winter conditions.

 This was the lead group of big guns, the top 8 with about 14k remaining. This pack consisted of Jeff Hall, Ned Overend, Will Ross, Brendan Moore, Jesse LaLonde, Justin Piontek, Cory Stelljes and Jason Lamoreaux.

Several attacks off the front from Ned, Jeff Hall, Brendan and Will Ross. With about 10K left, Ned attacked hard and broke the group. It was a race to finish with Ned, Will and Jeff getting a gap. Then Will and Ned got away from Jeff. It became a battle between Will and Ned out front with Brendan making contact with Jeff and those two duking it out for 3rd and 4th.  

 Will Ross with the win in a time of 1:55:30 over a distance of 47K.

 Ned Overend across in 2nd @ 1:55:50.

 Brendan Moore 3rd @ 1:56:04 and Jeff Hall 4th @ 1:56:07.

 Jeff and his family along with Weez at the finish.

 Jeff, Brendan and Ned Overend.

 The Big Man of Wisconsin Mountain Biking since 1983, Gary Crandall hanging at the finish line.

 The Hwood taking it home in 14th place.

 This was also the final race in the Great LakesFat Bike Series.

Jeff Hall took 2nd in the series with 4 wins and one 4th place finish. Jay "Hollywood" Henderson took 4th in the series. That put 2 LAMERE Cycles on the podium with their Podium Wear kits and looking good.

 Owen taking his Dads LAMERE for a ride after the race...

Fat Bike On!!

Yellowstone Park After Dark / Leaving Cooke City, Montana

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A few views as we leave Cooke City, Montana. This is a huge dome mountain that juts up out of the trees. The winds had picked up and were whipping the snow off the top.

 This was an awesome sight to see the moon rising over the mountains as we headed into Yellowstone Park. We would travel about 75 miles through the Park in the dark.

 I was on full alert driving through Yellowstone, as we came upon several herds of Bison that were in the road and just hanging out in the 4 degree temperature.

No Bull, these Elk stood in the middle of the road and seemed to challenge our truck before moving into the brush. As they ambled off the road they faced each other and spared with their antlers, cool sight.

Road Trip On!!