saturday

Well today was a relaxed day to follow a busy one yesterday. I actually got to work a bit at my job, being at the airport from noon to midnight. I only got paid for 6.3 hours, but apparently partial pay is all a flight instructor can get for hard work. It was a large amount of pay in my world, so that's good. Today I watched history as Lance nailed his last time trial, and with it his seventh tour. Yes, there is one more stage, but nobody is close enough to take him out at this point. Good job Lance! (Yes, I know he'll never read that.) I was moved by the performance, so I decided to ride one of my normal training loops as a time trial, and surprised myself. The fastest I've ever ridden it was an hour and seven minutes. Today I rode it in just over 58 minutes! And I say that not to brag, but to share my excitment. It's good to push yourself to new levels. Plus, I had to get a good ride in here today because I was not able to ride the Lewis and Clarck 100 century event back in Bismarck, because gas is for the rich these days. Someday I'm going to that event. It's on my road.
Also during this fine saturday I tried to fix my clothes dryer that does not want to dry clothes. Laundry mats are another form of slot machines, eating up all your money, so I'd just assume fix my broken dryer fast. Turns out it's the motor, so it looks like I need to check the classifieds for a new old machine. It's been a fun project though. I think the best part was watching Mullet insist on getting into every part of the ripped apart machine, then getting afraid and hissing at all of them that he considers threatening. :)
Well, off to bed. I have to get up in just a few short hours to watch the final ride into Paris. Don't miss it- it's the last time to watch our American champ!

80 km in 1 day

Although not as epic as the Tour, myself and a cyling buddy from college, along with several old guys who are faster than us, went to Lake Itasca State Park in MN this past saturday to spin some miles. The park has a great 16 mile scenic loop, with a twenty mph speed limit (whoops, my max speed during the ride was 33.2) and very little traffic, and makes for a great road ride through the woods. It was a tough half century (in miles), as we flatlanders are not used to having to climb hills, and the road is pretty much short climbs and decents the entire loop. Much fun though. I do like a good hill climb (or mountain when I can stumble upon one). The woods are amazing as well. I love it when you run into low light under tree canopies, and it seems surreal, like you are traveling through a painting. Not to get cheezy and poetic, but that's just how it feels. One can't find a feeling like that on the couch. I don't understand how people dislike the outdoors just because there's no anti-bacterial peach mango handsoap (with shea butter). I think I'll have to backpack that park soon, as it's only a two hour drive away, and it would be nice to take it all in at a slower pace than we did this weekend. Nevertheless, road miles make a man happy.

3607 kilometres in 21 days

More than I can ride. The Tour de France is going great for the American cycling fan (not that there's that many of us). It seems Lance is gonna do it again. Holy crap. To win the Tour even once it takes so many things going right and nuts of steel (or carbon fiber). Winning seven times in a row is borderline sick. But nevertheless I am surely a Lance fan. I hope he does it. It's good to see Americans getting psyched over something other than a sport where you hit, pass, or well, hit or pass a ball. Racing a sweet road bike over an entire country in a month, consisting of flatland sprints, mountain passes that will make you cry and smile at the same time, team time trials, the rich French culture, crazy fans (yes cycling has those too), and countless other things contributing to an epic ride is just plain cool. If I could ride just one of those famous mountain climbs at my own pace I'd be one happy man. Not that I'm not. Today's stage pumped me up and I managed to hold above 25mph for over a mile sprint on my sweet Lemond Buenos Aires, despite the heat index in the upper nineties. Watch the Tour. Learn all about it. It's way cool.
http://www.olntv.com/tdf/

Tempting.....

Thought I might tempt some of you out there to join me on the Superior Hiking Trail sometime soon......

Mmmm....trail.....

The long of the short....

Well it's time to elaborate on yesterday's blog. This past weekend was a much needed Grand Forks relief session. The north shore of Lake Superior is indeed superior. And I have to say that the many folks who put together the Superior Hiking Trail did an amazing job. What a sweet trail! It's currently somewhere around 220 miles stretching from just north of Duluth, MN to the Canadian border. The through-hike would take approximately two weeks at a decent but not overzealous pace. If there was some way to swing a trip like that and still have enough money to survive I'd totally be there. I can't afford to miss that much work though in my current stage of life. But just getting out there and backpacking the 10 mile stretch that we did this weekend was great (and it's a start at completing the whole thing). We (me, Alison, and our friend Jess who many of you know), hiked from Castle Danger township to Gooseberry Falls State Park. One mile into the trail section, we met a hiker walking quickly the other direction, just folding his pocket knife after keeping it out for his previous few miles. He told us that he'd just run into two adult bears sitting in the middle of the trail, and he'd quickly retreated back in the direction of Castle Danger rather than going around them. So, we needed to decide whether or not to continue. I'm going to have to give the credit of pressing on to Jes, as Al and I probably would have turned around without her. She pointed out that we came out there to backpack, so we'd better do it, and I agreed. Good job Jess. :) We made lots of noise along the trail, and saw no bears ourselves, although the mud of the trail was littered with fresh bear prints. Cool. Since there were so many prints, we decided to press on past the backcountry campsite we planned on spending the night at and went all the way to the state park campground. Being the fourth of July, it was full, but the rangers have a little secret stored away for tired backpackers at the end of the day. It's called the Davis Area, consisting of the best three campsites in the park, which lay right on the shore of Lake Superior itself. Ultra sweet. And we had hot showers. Not bad for roughing it. And I have to say that that lake tastes mighty fine after it passes through my filter. MMM. Not all full of chlorine and other city crap.
The day after I rode my singlespeed back to the van (I had stashed it in some bushes nearby the park the day before our hike) and picked up the girls. We headed up to Palisade Head, where they humored me for a bit while I did a local favorite climb, Danger High Voltage (5.8). It's a nice combo of face and crack climbing, exposed over the lake. I'm gonna have to go back and lead it next time. Much fun. The rest of the day was pretty low key, as we were all super sore from the backpacking, not to mentioned bit up by bugs and itching. I apparently was bitten my a spider or something, as my leg is still swollen pretty good. All part of the game. We hike in the critters homes and become there food sometimes.
That night we camped at Eckbeck campground north of Tetegouchi State Park, and got to watch thunderheads light up the north sky while mowing down smores. Did I mention trips are flippin' great! In the morning we played in the Baptism river after filtering some water out of it, and then went to check out the waterfalls of the nearby Temperance River. All of these places fall somewhere along sections of the Superior Hiking Trail, making it one of the top ten hiking trails in the country.
Oh yeah, the police. I had a fierce case of the hiccups on the drive out to the north shore, so I was trying to kill them off by taking consecutive short sips of water from my Nalgene, and consequently wasn't paying attention to the speed change through Grand Rapids (Hwy 2 changes speed limits about every 10 feet all the way out there). I got pulled over, but apparently I looked embarrassed enough that the officer let me go with a warning.
Overall, the trip was absolutely wonderful, and I'm very impressed with the Superior Hiking Trail. I'm going back. Anyone want to come with?

Short of the long

I'll soon write a decent blog of this past trip's happenings, but here's the short of the long: backpacking a section of one of America's top 10 hiking trails, climbing exposure over Lake Superior and camping on it's beautiful shores after a long trek, bears, spiders, my sweet singlespeed, waterfalls, silhouettes of nighttime thunderstorms from camp, many a glowbug and even hiccups that lead to dealing with police. Dang trips are cool.

Wind, rain, and vacation...

It's mighty wet here in Grand Forks. I feel bad for the farmers; it looks like an insurance year. But don't worry all. The nation will still have food of sorts, because McDonald's will always be producing, um...burgers I think, in their labs...ehr, kitchens. But hopefully our farmers will be able to produce some real food if anyone is still interested. Someday I'd imagine the rain will cease, and we'll all go outside. I'm going outside this weekend if it works out. Flight ops is closed for the fourth, so the Superior Hiking Trail in NE MN is my destination. Mmmm....backpacking after many hours logged in front of that television that makes me lazy. Some nights I think I've heard my expensive backpack groaning from inside my closet. It's embarrassed that I own such a fine piece of equipment and make it sit and wait for adventure for so long. I shall answer it the correct way and head out for some good miles with some good friends on a good trail....hopefully, if the rain will stop. There was a break last weekend and I managed to fit in a short hike and canoe paddle excursion to nearby Lake Itasca State Park in MN. Stuck my feet in the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi, got served by many a mosquito, and had a generally excellent time. Weekends!!

I do miss the posse ride......

There once was a well honored, non-scheduled event that went down quite often here in Grand Forks amongst myself and a few of my close pals. We'd get on our bikes, fresh off the couch, bored of being bored, and go on what we dubbed a "posse ride." Yeah, I had to look up the word posse in my dictionary just to make sure I spelled it right. The point of the rides was simply "somethin' to do." We'd pedal aimlessly through the different areas of town (usually having to turn around a couple times- this town's not big), stop for food or beverage if needed, fixate on riding "that sweet set of stairs", or enjoy a nice gravity race (starting at the very top of a parking garage and rolling down with no peddling allowed- much needed careening fun for the bored cyclist.) Usually there was need to stop and let Edward fix whatever strange item he built as his bike. But it really didn't matter what kind of bike a person rode on these rides, just that we all got out and rolled down some pavement, or dirt, or stairs, or unmanagable Red River Valley mud and water. It was always a good time. However times have changed and most of the posse has moved on to other locations. Such is the way of posses. And it's ok, each members ended up in some cool places out there, as I imagine I'll do sometime relatively soon. But the time I had in Grand Forks with my adventursome friends was great. I hope all of you out there are still riding/climbing/hiking/general ruckusing and getting off the couch.

Don't get too caught up....

This past weekend I was able to make it home to see my parents along with my beautiful lady, Alison, and it was great. There was of course much eating (thanks mom and dad!), cleaning my delapitated old van, road biking in hail, and checking out the coolness of the people of the past in ND at the North Dakota Heritage Center. People were tough out on the prarie before heating and air conditioning and grocery stores. They built mud huts. They shot stuff. They ate/wore the stuff they shot. Cool. I should learn to shoot and eat something someday. The grocery store and Webber grill are so nice to me though. But anyways, the Center not only displays how people got by, but also the underlying principle of people living off each other whatever the external circumstances. People have lived through some crazy stuff, and enjoyed each other's company through it all. We should all remember the important people in our lives and enjoy their company through whatever situations life sets in front of us. You're not going to think of your bills and job and titles and degrees when you're laying on your death bed, you'll be thinking of the people you love. Make sure not to slip into going crazy about all the business you have going on in life- pay attention to the people God's blessed you with and enjoy life! And road bike in some (small) hail, too- it's fun!

General Update

Laziness has obviously taken over me concerning this website. Whoops. The past couple of weeks have been quite full of activity however. Mostly work. Some action. I will have to say that it's nice that the public school year is winding down though. I rather enjoy the summer in it's middle-school kid free-ness. I got hit with a dodgeball upon stepping out of my bus the other day. Kids wouldn't be so bad if you could retaliate. :) Lawyers. :( Not that I would have done anything bad, but a return dodgeball to the head would do wonders in teaching who's boss. :)
Anyway, the summer flight schedule got underway today, and I'm bumbling my way through teaching three new courses. Should be crazy, but I'm happy to get some new experience and get away from teaching brand new student pilots to land. Uggh. I think my back has reached it's stress limits, and I will be happy with my new semi-compentant students.
In other news, outdoor climbing was supposed to have happened this past weekend, but rain showed up and washed that away. I did however make a detour to Alison's home with her to visit her family, and it was just as good as climbing. There is, after all, more to life than the hobbies. :)
With that, I'll consider you generally updated as to my goings-on, and I'll post more sooner than I did this past couple weeks.