This is one fast bike and bike of my choice. Check it out!



The rainy weather is making me take a little time off. It is kind of scheduled so I am happy with that.Plus it gives me time to get caught up on house chores. I have also been working on a few things for next year, and I have to say that I am getting excited. Looks like second week in November training starts for 2010.

IMBA Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

The title of this entry is somewhat incorrect, it should read, "Take a Group of Kids Mountain Biking." Last week I meet up with 7 kids and their group leader from the St. Cloud Childrens Home. We met over at the North Loop Mountain Bike Trails to meet and greet, do a little skills clinic and then hit the trail. For some this was the first time riding the trail and the excitement was there.


In the trail we stopped at some of the rock gardens, log drop and a few other areas so I could demonstrate how to approach and ride the obstacles. A few of the kids even tried some of them making a great effort. Even though they did not make it that day, I told them to keep on trying. Practice makes perfect! (At least that is what I tell myself when I get tangled up.)

Here is a picture that was taken at bridge two on Granny Hill.

I applauded the kids that overcame a little fear when approaching the bridges. We had a couple successes, a few that said next time I am going to do it, and one who crashed very hard off the bridge that said next time I will conquer it. At first I thought that the crash was going to end this person's day, but there is something to be said about getting bucked of and jumping right back on. This person did just that and I must say she is quite a trooper!!!

Wrapping the ride up I realized that it was just past 5 o'clock and time for them to get back. I asked one of them if they were going to still get dinner? He replied, "As long as I am having fun, I would miss dinner any night for this."

A few others asked when we are going to do this again? Sounds like this might happen more than once a year. Maybe once a month is in order next season?

Thank you Mary at WalkingBillboards for donating the custom T Shirts for the day. It brought upon many smiles!

Only just a litte sample. I must say it was a good night!

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ill prepared

Shame on me! I was not prepared for the first snow fall of the year. Skis are still in the bag with storage wax. If I was ready, I would have made a lap around the yard with the dogs.

Here are some pics that Angela captured

Pavlov waiting to come in the house!!!

Julius saying, "I am not ready for this snow!"

Here I sit...

Well, it is raining and I am supposed to get ready to go meet everyone for the night ride. Yes, the famous night rides have started on Monday nights at the North Loop. I sit here typing tonight because for the second time this year the ride has been canceled.

I can't believe that we are starting the first full week of October. The days are getting shorter and the temps are dropping. I think this means that winter is just around the corner. Even though the shop is getting dialed in for cross country skiing, give me another month of mountain biking and then I will be ready to ski.
Yesterday I took an early morning trip with Brian and Ben to Hillside Trails in Elk River. I had a blast. The crew there has done some incredible trail improvements over the summer.
September was here and gone before I knew it. Maybe that happened because Angela and I had a lot going on. A person could say that September was bike racing month for us though.

Recently the Mid Minnesota Cycling club had a huge weekend on September 26 & 27
Revolution Cycle and Ski sponsored the fourth annual Single Track Escape in St. Cloud. For a great recap of the race check out the summary on MTB racenews at http://www.mtbracenews.com/

The next day was followed up with the Mid Minnesota Cycling Club's Pork Chop Challenge Cyclocross Race. Now this is a fun event and for the first time I decided to participate in it. Yep, it hurt and is not as easy as it looks. Not that I thought it looked easy, but my legs seemed like they did not want to work properly jumping the barriers towards the end of the race. For the best highlight of the event check out this video.



Video credit to Quinn Williams

Photo credit Angela Schroden

The weekend of the 19th was the race that everyone waits for all year long. Oh yes, Chequamegon. For a race report on that one, scroll down and see my race report.

In the early part of September I had the opportunity to sit on the other side of competition. Angela had her last triathlon of the season and it was a good one. She placed 2nd in her age group(which is a tough group) at the Square Lake Triathlon in Stillwater, MN. She is currently working on her run to be faster next year. With her working on that to be combined with her bike and swim, she will be in contention to win some races.


Time for me to go watch some football. Will Farve survive tonight???

test

This is test. Can't find out how to get my voicemail, but I can try this out on the new phone.