treadnorth: North Shore Riding Day...

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

North Shore Riding Day...

Because I'm going off to training for a couple months, Alison and I may not get to see each other as much as we'd like pretty soon, so we took advantage of both having this past Sunday off and took a day trip up to the North Shore of Lake Superior for some road biking and scenery. We rode from Split Rock River State Park to Palisade Head and back. Very nice. Spring on the North Shore is pretty great, as the droves of mosquitoes have not yet taken over the place. The weather was wonderful, and we totally enjoyed ourselves. In addition to the riding and refreshing Northwoods atmosphere, we also took in some very tasty pie, at Two Harbors famous "Betty's Pies" restaurant. We had the Great Lakes crunch, which incorporates all the local berries, plus apple and rhubarb. Oh yes.
In other bike-type news, my touring bike has gained another splendid feature. This latest upgrade is a Brooks B-17 leather touring saddle, which is raved about in the long distance trekking circles as being the must have saddle for seeing the world on your loaded rig. So far I've only ridden new-school plastic saddles, so it will be interesting to log some miles on a classic unit such as this. There are many who swear by pure cow-butt saddles; we'll see if I join this eccentric group. It does require more care than most bicycle saddles, and there is a break in period as the leather wears and forms to an individual riders south end. It requires a special treatment of goop called "Proofide", which is several natural substances put together to essential oil the saddle without making it oily. Neat. I'll let you all know how it works out. I'm sure you're excited. :)
Pix from Sunday's ride:

Alison at the top of the climb up Palisade Head. It's not long like the climbs in UT, but it is fiercely steep...