Went out for a little ride with some friends.
Finished middle of the pack...about normal, for those that ride a bike for 100 miles on dirt.
200 some riders total
100 or 62 miles in the woods
1 house...around 15 of us in it....plenty of room
too many beers to count afterwards
over 5,000,000,000,000,00,000 mosquitos that joined us...during the race in the woods and those that tried and made it into the house.
So glad my 2 punctures sealed....fixing a flat would have been very unpleasent.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Kayaking for a Cause
In early spring Lynn came across this and I decided to make contact. Two young men that had just gotten out of the Marines are out to raise money to help their buddies that weren't so lucky and who ended up with very serious injuries.
I wanted to see about offering to help them out (mainly with my contact in northern Minnesota, Jim Lewis who wrote a book after he and his friends make the trip a few years ago) and possibly kayaking down the river with them for a day or so, like I did a few years ago with these Vets, but only use a kayak instead of a bike.
They have a website where you can read about their "mission" to help fellow Marines and donate, if you're so inclined.
They're the real deal and they did their research so as to pick the best charity to donate to so the people the actually need the funds get them.
On the river below Little Falls. Gabe, Nic, Jim.
Taken just before Gabe and I launched below the Blanchard Dam. Gage, Nic, Jim, me.
Blanchard Dam.
Dinner.
Gabe, me.
Gabe and Nic.
Gabe resting as we wait for Jim and Nic to catch up to us after we launched below Blanchard Dam.
Gabe.
Nic, Jim, Gabe
Nic.
Getting ready to head out.
I wanted to see about offering to help them out (mainly with my contact in northern Minnesota, Jim Lewis who wrote a book after he and his friends make the trip a few years ago) and possibly kayaking down the river with them for a day or so, like I did a few years ago with these Vets, but only use a kayak instead of a bike.
They have a website where you can read about their "mission" to help fellow Marines and donate, if you're so inclined.
They're the real deal and they did their research so as to pick the best charity to donate to so the people the actually need the funds get them.
On the river below Little Falls. Gabe, Nic, Jim.
Blanchard Dam.
Dinner.
Gabe, me.
Gabe and Nic.
Gabe resting as we wait for Jim and Nic to catch up to us after we launched below Blanchard Dam.
Gabe.
Nic, Jim, Gabe
Nic.
Getting ready to head out.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Canoe Weekend
Spent the weekend on or the near the water. Great weather, friends and "companion".
First stop, Copper Falls in northern Wisconsin. A series of Falls and ledges.
The Friends:
First day was on the Brule....during one of the most prolific mosquite hatch in recent history. Most of the day was fine, but towards late afternoon it was horrendous.
Second day we hit the White River SW of Ashland, WI.
We might have had as good or better days on the river in the past 30 years, but none of us could remember when.
All photo credits to Cole...who along with his buddy Dan were the rookies this year.
This annual trip started as a college fraternity activity over 40 years ago.
Arnie (Paul) and Bill.
Cole, Tom, Pat, Bill, Vinod, Dan, Tim, (standing) Arnie, Me
Me and Pat.
Tom.
These were taken on Lake Superior a couple of weeks before our trip. We had decided to push our start back a few weeks due to the amount of snow and cold winter/spring we had in WI this year. Worked out well, except for the a fore mentioned mosquitoes.
The Companion. (a word Jason started using initially to describe his dog)
The third day it rained so no canoeing so I drove the 4 hours home to central WI. The next day was again fantastic so I took Jason, our 5 year old Grandson, for his first canoe trip on some water only a few blocks from our house. His grandma had gone out the day before and snagged him a sweet life vest...."with NO tail, grandpa!" (the strap that goes from the back to the front on little kids life jackets) We had been talking about canoeing all winter and he took to it in grand fashion.
I let him paddle as he saw fit for awhile, then suggested that he turn his pulling hand from an underside grip to gripping over the top. He stuck with that....and paddled steady for the 2 hours we were out there.
A few pontoon boats putted around with us, some faster than others. It gave me the opportunity to explain why sometimes it's best to head into a wave versus riding it out sideways and risk tipping. He loves to learn and was excited about the whole adventure.
After awhile Jason observed that he was making "tornadoes" in the water as he paddled.
First stop, Copper Falls in northern Wisconsin. A series of Falls and ledges.
First day was on the Brule....during one of the most prolific mosquite hatch in recent history. Most of the day was fine, but towards late afternoon it was horrendous.
Second day we hit the White River SW of Ashland, WI.
We might have had as good or better days on the river in the past 30 years, but none of us could remember when.
All photo credits to Cole...who along with his buddy Dan were the rookies this year.
This annual trip started as a college fraternity activity over 40 years ago.
Arnie (Paul) and Bill.
These were taken on Lake Superior a couple of weeks before our trip. We had decided to push our start back a few weeks due to the amount of snow and cold winter/spring we had in WI this year. Worked out well, except for the a fore mentioned mosquitoes.
The Companion. (a word Jason started using initially to describe his dog)
The third day it rained so no canoeing so I drove the 4 hours home to central WI. The next day was again fantastic so I took Jason, our 5 year old Grandson, for his first canoe trip on some water only a few blocks from our house. His grandma had gone out the day before and snagged him a sweet life vest...."with NO tail, grandpa!" (the strap that goes from the back to the front on little kids life jackets) We had been talking about canoeing all winter and he took to it in grand fashion.
I let him paddle as he saw fit for awhile, then suggested that he turn his pulling hand from an underside grip to gripping over the top. He stuck with that....and paddled steady for the 2 hours we were out there.
A few pontoon boats putted around with us, some faster than others. It gave me the opportunity to explain why sometimes it's best to head into a wave versus riding it out sideways and risk tipping. He loves to learn and was excited about the whole adventure.
After awhile Jason observed that he was making "tornadoes" in the water as he paddled.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)