Survival of da Fittest

Live life like ya stole it, cause in the end... all ya got is your life.

Minnesota Mountain Bike Race Weekend at Maplelag Resort /2021

In 1991 my son Jeff, age 15 on the 2nd place podium and Jay Richards, on the 1st place podium step. Battled a muddy “Chequamegon / Short and Fat” race course to start a relationship with Mountain Biking that has spanned 30 years.

Fast forward to 2021 and Jeff Hall is 45 years old and Jay Richards is the race promoter at his resort in Callaway, Minnesota... this is good stuff!

The start of the 18 mile Elite Men’s cross country race. 

Jeff and Brendan battling it out early in the Elite Cross Country Mountain Bike Race.

Brendan would finish 1st and Jeff finished 3rd.

Little Donnie, Jeff’s son, had a good weekend camping, riding his mountain bike, playing catch with the football and the never ending supply of cookies at the lodge.

Jeff Hall, he finished 3rd in the cross country race.

Jeff, Brendan Moore and Jay Richards.

Ride on!
 

Colorado High Country Mountain Biking

 

Colorado / Buffalo Pass / Four Wheel Camper

The northern Colorado high country is my destination. I’m up at 9500 feet, tucked into the pines. 

It took 6 inches to level truck.

Soaking in the morning mountain sun. Cooled down to 40 degrees over night. Furnace was on task and took the chill off.

A morning mountain bike ride 5.5 miles up the mountain. Started at 9500 feet and rode up to the summit at 10,500 feet. One of a couple sweet mountain lakes at the summit.

The view over the ridge from my campsite.

Gotta fuel the Beast... 

I’ll post some more of the adventure soon.

Ride on!
 

Four Wheel Camper Adventure on da Lake Superior North Shore

Five day camping trip, the final 3 days I was dispersed camped southwest of Silver Bay, Minnesota. Started out the 3rd day of the trip scouting off forest roads for a suitable pulloff for my pickup / Four Wheel Camper and trailer. 

As luck would have it, I found 2 locations. Drove the rig down a spur forest road and was able to back the trailer onto a smaller, somewhat overgrown forest road.

One day on the 300 KLX. Took off for the day in the rain. It actually makes it easier to gear up for the rain from the get go. Hooked on to Highway #1 that heads north towards Ely. Steady rain most of the day. Traveled the highway scouting for some likely forest roads. Found a 2 track road that led to a remote lake. The trail meandered up and down until it narrowed into a single trail. Crossed a creek and got bogged down a bit in a muddy low area. Got out of the bog, then came upon a very cool forest lake where the trail ended.

Back at camp with a good day of exploring on the moto. About 110 miles of pavement, gravel forest roads and a couple good forest trails. Good time adventure!

Cover up

RZR day.

Back er in about 150 yards off the spur trail. Good remote camp for 3 days. 

My “Frogg Togg” rain suit, good for rain, bugs and dust.

Gotta check out Lake Superior. Skip a few rocks, climb around a few rocks, listening to the waves on the rocks. Lake Superior Rocks!

Ride on!
 

North Shore Minnesota Iron Dirt

Good morning!

A couple good off the grid camping adventures the past 3 weeks. Gotta update my travels in the next couple days. Truck, trailer and inside, Moto and RZR have a good red dirt glow to them.

 

Flaming Sunset Over the Farmland

With the dry conditions and very little wind. The dust from the gravel roads drifting across the land creates a very colorful sunset.

Washing the dust down after a 50 mile loop in the country. Cheers to a new week!

Ride on!
 

Bear Country / Four Wheel Camper Dispersed Camping

It was a good adventure week across northern Minnesota.

Started with me working at a mountain bike race the first 2 days, Saturday & Sunday in Detroit Lakes. Then dispersed camping about 100 miles to the east in a couple different locations over the next 3 days and nights. So it was a bit of mountain biking and driving the RZR. 

Arrived at the mountain bike race site about 11:00pm. Popped up the Four Wheel Camper and unloaded the bike, mounted up the headlight and headed into the woods for a single track night ride. Kinda a traditional night ride before race day, I’m not racing, but it goes back to the Jeff Hall racing. It has been something I’ve been doing for about the past 26 years... haha! I always make it back to the truck.

Minnesota Mountain Bike Race Series site at Detroit Lakes.

Traveled east across the state after the race on Sunday. Decided on a forest road that I was familiar with, about 1 1/2 miles off pavement. Woke up to this setting. Birds chirping and a sunny day. Needless to say, there was an abundance of mosquitoes, deer flys and ticks. Long sleeves, long pants and balaclava on neck and head.

Took a day in small town to bike around and get a shower at a local campground. Grab a good lunch.

After a day in town, headed into the forest again later that night for a couple days.

Drive the RZR out of camp the next day. Headed north into pretty remote section of forest about 12 miles from any towns. These are a set of fresh bear tracks. For comparison I placed my boot next to track. Pretty good sized bear. Hung out in the area for about 45 minutes to see if he would pop out of the forest. Didn’t see him. 

A small remote lake was a welcome stop off a side trail on this 92 degree day. After throwing water over my head, I rinsed out my balaclavas and they cooled me down.

Bonus time! I pushed a bit further on this adventure and stumbled on this small town bar/grill, jeez the ac felt good and I ordered a burger and fries. Good stuff!

Like I’ve said in the past, the mud holes tell a story. It’s interesting that there is a fresh set of wolf tracks and a set of bear cub tracks in this mud hole... Needless to say I quickly checked around to make sure Mama bear wasn’t in the vicinity.

Back at camp for one more night of camping before heading back to the Farm Base Camp in southern Minnesota, 185 miles south.

Ride on!